Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

As part of our outreach efforts, we have launched a Mini Open Day designed to offer a more welcoming and less intimidating introduction to university life for school students, particularly those from Widening Participation backgrounds. During the visit, students will have the opportunity to interact with current Computer Science students, who will provide valuable guidance and share insights into university life. The goal is to create a friendly and inspiring experience that helps students visualise themselves at university and feel confident exploring future pathways in computing.

Our School is dedicated to tackling the gender imbalance and lack of diversity in computer science-related fields worldwide.  To help achieve this, we will give priority to schools that demonstrate a commitment to balanced gender representation among their students and to schools that actively support students from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds.

As part of our commitment to widening participation and making opportunities more inclusive, we are adopting a proactive approach to work experience placements. This year, we will be reaching out to schools to coordinate common work experience dates and will publish an application form for students who are interested in joining us. Applicants will be able to choose from different “flavours” of placements, including admin-focused, tech support, or academic experiences. Those opting for an academic placement will also be able to indicate specific areas of interest—such as cybersecurity, wearables and sensors, or robotics—so we can, if possible,  tailor their experience accordingly. 

Our aim is to ensure that all students, regardless of existing personal contacts within the school, have an accessible and meaningful route to gain valuable experience with us.

We are proud to be part of Levelling Up, a fantastic scheme to promote inclusion in STEM subjects. The Computer Science strand is supported by the British Computer Society, to support people from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in the discipline of Computing to enrol in Computer Science degree programmes at leading UK universities. 

On this scheme, university students are recruited to tutor small groups of school pupils over the 1.5 years leading up to their A-Levels. The specific goal is to tutor these groups to ensure that they obtain a good Maths A-Level (a core requisite for most Computing degrees), whilst also ensuring that they pick up key Computing skills along the way.

All new staff members at our School receive a personalised induction package. This includes a tailored schedule for their first few days, featuring welcome meetings with key members of staff. These are followed by further induction sessions with the School Manager, their line manager, and other key colleagues.

New staff also receive a comprehensive checklist outlining essential activities and mandatory training to ensure they are fully supported from day one. All new staff are added to a dedicated “New Staff” group chat managed by the Director of One University. We also run monthly new staff meetings featuring short talks from various teams and role-holders—such as teaching administration and the ethics lead. 

To support informal networking and help new colleagues connect, we also organise social events throughout the year, such as a group walk to the Christmas Markets.

This committee makes proposals for the implementation of gender equality and diversity policies at Faculty or School level.  The membership of ED&I also involves addressing any diversity and equality issues, discussions in a forum environment, monitoring and tracking student and staff numbers with respect to diversity and equality, overseeing and contributing to the delivery of the Athena SWAN action plan and its applications ,and reporting to the School Executive on diversity and equality issues. 

As part of our initiative to help newly joined academics integrate into our community, we have created an academic buddy scheme to offer guidance, support, and camaraderie to new members of our school, helping them feel welcome and equipped to thrive in their new environment. 

Under this policy, new parents will be offered a reduced project supervision allocation during their transition back to work. This initiative aims to provide greater flexibility, allowing parents to manage their workload more effectively while adjusting to their new responsibilities at home. We hope to foster a smoother reintegration into academic and professional activities.