Lydia Pari Redican

Project Officer

I've been working in Widening Participation and Outreach since 2013. I am incredibly passionate about supporting young people through their journey into higher education and ultimately, to be successful at a research intensive institution like the University of Liverpool.

Our programmes, such as the Liverpool Scholars Programme, support talented young people who wish to access higher education, regardless of their background. It is my role to ensure students on the Liverpool Scholars Programme are supported by the wider university, by engaging professional and pastoral services across the institution, as well as academics, current undergraduates and alumni of the programme.

As well as access to higher education, I am passionate about sharing good practice in the sector and have worked alongside national or collaborative partnerships such as Realising Opportunities where I have chaired committees, or bid for new projects through our OfS NCoP, Shaping Futures. I have also supported the Office for Students to develop widening participation evaluation guidance (Standards of Evaluation) and grow our theory of change work in the team. More recently I have grown our Access project work in Race Equality and work with local secondary schools to support students from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background into higher education. Internally at the University I am also the Co-Chair of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff Network and support staff and the wider institution to create meaningful change for staff and students from non-white backgrounds.

My passion and lived experience as a widening participation student also led me to become an Independent Governor of a local Further Education College, where I am also a Committee Chair of Curriculum Quality and Standards. In this role, I have gained a much deeper understanding of the challenges faced by widening participation students and Level 3 providers, such as funding, curriculum development in line with Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), Ofsted and QAA.

If you have any queries about any of our projects or particularly access projects for 16-18 year olds, please feel free to contact me or a member of the team. Questions are always welcomed from parents and carers, students, teachers and other institutions delivering widening participation. 

Email: lydia.redican@liverpool.ac.uk.

Please send queries regarding the Liverpool Scholars Programme directly to the team: scholars@liverpool.ac.uk.