Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA)

SPA was established in 2006 and is an independent and objective voice on higher education (HE) admissions in the UK. It leads on the development of fair admissions, providing an evidence base and guidelines for good practice, and in helping higher education institutions maintain and enhance excellence and professionalism in admissions, student recruitment and widening participation across the HE sector.

The SPA Programme has a team of six staff who bring over 65 years' experience between them in student recruitment, admissions and widening participation.

The team comprises:

  • three Senior Project Officers:
    - Annie Doyle, who was previously Admissions Officer at the University of York (email: a.doyle@spa.ac.uk)
    - Leslie Currie, formerly an Assistant Registrar at the University of Bath (email: l.currie@spa.ac.uk)
    - Dan Shaffer who held the post of Assistant Registrar at Aston University before joining SPA (email: d.shaffer@spa.ac.uk).
  • the Director of the SPA Programme, Janet Graham, who came from the University of Cambridge where she was Head of the Admissions Office, and was previously Director of Admissions and Student Recruitment at the University of Leicester (email: j.graham@spa.ac.uk).
  • Ruth Burchell, Project Officer (email: r.burchell@spa.ac.uk), and Sheila Ham, SPA Administrative Support Officer and PA to the Director (email: enquiries@spa.ac.uk).


    • SPA team

    From left to right: Annie Doyle - Senior Project Officer, Leslie Currie - Senior Project Officer, Janet Graham - Director, and Sheila Ham - Administrative Support Officer.

    The team works closely with higher education institutions, schools and colleges, UCAS and other stakeholders on the continuing development of fair admissions. SPA is represented on the Delivery Partnership on improving the HE applications process, and is active in a variety of admissions networks around the UK.

    The programme has received funding for a further three years until July 2011, from all four UK HE funding councils. SPA takes account of equal opportunities legislation, the drive to widen participation and the QAA's Code of practice: Admissions to higher education (2006). The SPA Steering Group, chaired by Sir Muir Russell (Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Glasgow) has representatives from Universities UK, GuildHE, UCAS, the HE Academy, UK government - including each of the devolved administrations - and HE funding councils, Association of Colleges, the pre-HE and HE sectors, including expert admissions practitioners. Although SPA is based at UCAS and values the synergy of working closely with UCAS staff, it is not part of UCAS.

    For more information about SPA, its background, objectives, activities and outcomes, visit the SPA website (opens in new window).