Last week, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) published updated guidance on how insurers should treat people with convictions. The guide, first published in 2011 and revised in 2014, has been updated this year to reflect recommendations made by Unlock. In research we published in September 2017, we found major problems in the way that

Bloomsbury Institute becomes the first higher education provider to Ban the Box for all. Bloomsbury Institute in London is the first higher education provider in the UK to adopt Ban the Box principles for staff as well as students, a move that could encourage other universities to follow suit. The Ban the Box campaign is

Following UCAS’ decision to remove the question about criminal convictions for all applicants, universities had to consider if, when and how to collect this information. UCAS still ask applicants to regulated programmes – for example medicine or teaching – to declare criminal records. Having worked with UCAS and universities for some time, we felt this

Unlock, an independent charity for people with convictions, has launched a new pilot project, funded by the UPP Foundation, the registered charity founded by University Partnerships Programme (UPP). The project, Unlocking students with conviction, will see Unlock working with three UK universities – Cardiff University, Goldsmiths and the University of Southampton – supporting them to

Today Unlock has published a paper, University admissions and criminal records: Lessons learned and next steps. The paper is featured in a blog by Christopher Stacey in Times Higher Education. For the last two decades, access to higher education in the UK for people with a criminal record has been seen to be much more

Commenting on news that UCAS, the university admissions service, will no longer ask applicants to declare criminal convictions when they apply for most courses, Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock, said: “Unlock very much welcomes the removal of the main criminal conviction box from the UCAS form. This is a significant change that has the potential

In 2005, aged 17, Lynn was convicted of racial assault, an offence she was deeply ashamed of. Due to her age, immaturity and the way she’d been brought up, Lynn didn’t fully understand the impact that her behaviour had on others although years later she had time to reflect on her actions. At the time

At the age of 16, Saeed had fallen in with a ‘bad crowd’ which ultimately led to him being arrested and pleading guilty to involvement in a local burglary. He received a four-month referral order. The order involved him meeting with a panel of local community volunteers, his victim and their representative and other relevant

At the time of applying to study for a nursing degree, Isabel didn’t have a criminal record. However, several months later she was charged with a driving offence and was due to appear in court two months later. During her admissions interview with the university, she explained that she had a court case pending and

Adam had been studying for a PhD; he’d completed his oral examination (subject to some minor corrections) and a submission date for the completed thesis had been set. During the course of his study Adam was arrested and charged with three offences. His trial started before the submission date of his thesis and the anxiety

Unlock, the leading charity for people with convictions, has today published new research which highlights major problems in the way that insurance companies deal with the criminal records of people applying for home insurance. The charity looked at the approaches of 42 high-street insurance companies and found that two-thirds failed to make it clear to

Last month, the Financial Conduct Authority published an occasional paper on access to financial services. I fed into this work, particularly focusing on the issues people with convictions face in accessing insurance. So it was good to see the authors include an especially challenging section of the report focused at a lack of buy-in to