Fighting inequality in HE: World Access to Higher Education Day (WAHED) announced for 24th November 2026

As inequality in access to HE increases in many countries, the 8^th edition of WAHED provides organisations across the world the opportunity to act and advocate for higher education opportunity. WAHED 26 will focus on harnessing AI as a tool and not a barrier for access with a major new report on this theme to be launched on the day; a major global FREE online conference including speakers from 5 continents, activities across the world led by WAHED partners and the launch of WAHED at the Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Association (EPHEA) conference in Sydney.

WAHED is convened by the World Access to Higher Education Network (WAHEN) which is the international network dedicated to reducing inequalities in higher and tertiary education worldwide. Since 2018 WAHED has supported almost 200 partner events across more than 100 countries engaging over 1,000 organisations.

The 2026 WAHED FREE online conference, ‘AI, Advocacy and Action – Making equality in HE happen’, will feature the following speakers with more to confirmed: Mia Wallin-Hansen (Policy Officer, EU Commission), Andreas Schleicher (Director of Education and Skills, OECD), Arturo Cherbowski Lask (Executive Director, Santander Universities, Mexico), Alicia Salomone (Profesora Titular, University of Chile), Jamil Salmi (Global Tertiary Education expert), Artūrs Černiševs (Senior Expert, Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Latvia), Juanita Bodmer (Strategy Manager , ATENEA, Columbia), Kimberly Jones (CEO, Council of Opportunity in Education USA) and Henriette Reierson Johnstone (President of SAIH, the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund, Norway).

At the EPHEA 2026 conference ‘Grounded in Place, Rising with Purpose: Equity in Action’ WAHED will be launched with a keynote address followed by a series of sessions looking at global trends in policy, institutional transformation and student engagement. The new research report Can AI unlock access to higher education?  including data on AI, access and opportunity from over 50 countries will be launched in both Sydney and at our online conference.

WAHED 26 will bring urgent attention to one of the biggest challenges facing the global HE sector and how to address it. As WAHEN Director Professor Graeme Atherton states:

‘WAHED 2026 will confront the AI challenge highlighting innovation in HE access and opportunity work across the world advancing the global access movement at a time of unprecedented uncertainty’.

ENDS

1. For questions and interviews, please contact Imogen Breen at imogen.breen@uwl.ac.uk.
2. For more information about EPHEA please visit Home | EPHEA.
3. To attend and cover the either WAHED26 conference in person or virtually, please contact Imogen Breen at imogen.breen@uwl.ac.uk for instructions.
4. WAHEN is the international network dedicated to reducing inequalities in higher and tertiary education worldwide. Launched in December 2024, WAHEN supports collaboration, partnerships and advocacy focused on extending access and success in higher and tertiary education for those from all backgrounds across the world. The WAHEN Board includes the World Bank, UNESCO, the Asia-Europe Foundation, University of Oxford, University of California, Berkeley and many more. To learn more about WAHEN, please go to: https://worldaccesshe.com/.