Editorial.

The author reflects on a series of conferences held in June 2010 about the widening participation (WP) in education in Great Britain. She relates that the papers and posters addressed evidence gaps, learning design for widening participation, and knowing the learner. She describes the play "Educating Rita," by Willy Russell, which is considered the highlight of the conference programme. She also mentions a piece by Ormond Simpson about student drop-out.