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The COVID-19 pandemic creates an immediate need to deliver existing pre-entry widening participation outreach work remotely. In doing so this means rethinking existing programmes and adapting existing working practices. This paper proposes a three-dimensional framework involving pedagogical, technological and the humanistic elements. It argues that any technological solutions need to consider the inequalities of access to technology and the barriers faced by both practitioners and students. Understanding the changing nature of this work alongside the potential time and investment needed to realise its potential is vital for all staff with strategic and operational responsibility related to access and participation. Whilst some existing pre-entry work may not translate to this new mode, online outreach has the potential to open up new ways to engage and inspire target learners over sustained periods through combined creation and curation of content.

Widening participation in higher education is driven by policy which is then enacted by individual practitioners. Practitioners bring with them a wealth of personal and employment experiences which shape their interpretations and enactments. Drawing on sixteen in-depth semi structured interviews with practitioners across seven universities in England, a classification is developed in order to conceptualise their orientations to policy enactment. Whilst nationally focused, this study has international resonance especially in marketised HE systems where policies are similarly enacted. The model developed within the paper proposes that personal and professional experience can cause practitioners to orient towards the interests of the institution or the individuals they work with.