Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
At The College of Animal Welfare and CAW Business School, we’re committed to a comprehensive policy of equality, diversity and inclusion for students and prospective students in our admissions policy, in all aspects of our teaching and examining, and in our provision of student services and related facilities.
How we Promote Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Widening access and participation
We believe that education is an entitlement for all. We make a consistent and comprehensive effort to widen access to our programmes and encourage participation by:
- Providing regular, free careers guidance via our website and twice annual Careers With Animals Day, to help people from all backgrounds gain the information and advice they need to begin a career in the veterinary and animal care industries.
- Running a free jobs board to assist people in finding jobs in the animal care industry.
- Regularly engaging with local schools and specialist organisations to encourage applicants from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Working hard to ensure our promotional resources reflect the communities in which we work in.
Fostering a culture of awareness, safety and understanding
The College is committed to fostering a safe environment for all students and staff. We have a zero tolerance policy against bullying and harassment, with clear processes for reporting in place, regular staff training and regular engagement with our students, such as:
- Running mandatory staff training on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and safeguarding.
- Providing a resource hub full of educational information, advice and guidance about EDI topics via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and websites, accessible to all learners and staff members
- Having a robust safeguarding process in place, available for all students and staff to report instances of discrimination and bullying in the workplace or at college. Read our Bullying and Harassment Statement to find out more
- Regularly promoting our monthly highlighted EDI topics across our websites, blogs, social media and digital channels; and ensuring EDI topics are prominent in our centres, including on computer screen savers, posters and display boards in classrooms. Read our latest blogs
- Promoting the British Values of Democracy, Individual liberty, The rule of Law and Mutual Respect and tolerance throughout the college. Read more about how we promote British Values
Providing high quality student support
Our students are treated equally, irrespective of race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, age, disability, political or religious belief, or socio-economic class. We have strong systems in place to support our students irrespective of their background and go the extra mile by:
- Providing 1-to-1 learning support and individual learning plans to help students who’re facing academic difficulties
- Providing regular opportunities for students to express their views about the college's student services via surveys and an online "suggestion box" which is open 24/7.
- Providing extra resources and support to ensure students with conditions such as dyslexia, colour blindness, or those who are hard of hearing, gain access to online learning.
- Setting up our ‘Learning without Limits’ learner project, which allows students free use of IT learner packs such as notepads, dongles, electronic writing pads and online learning materials. Read more about our facilities
- Ensuring all our centres are wheelchair accessible and we have a range of support systems in place to assist disabled and neurodiverse learners to achieve their qualifications. You can read our Disability and Neurodiversity statement to view the full list of measures and support available.
- Giving all CAW students access to free, confidential counselling services.
- Providing a hub of mental, physical and sexual health guidance and information via our "Living Well" area on the VLE.
- Giving all our staff and students access to Together All, a free, anonymous online mental health service that is available 24/7.
- Inviting all CAW alumni to receive our alumni newsletter, to help them stay a part of our community and gain our guidance and support throughout their careers.
Embedding EDI into our processes
We’re committed to a comprehensive policy of equality, diversity and inclusion in our processes and procedures. We do this by:
- Ensuring all our hiring and recruitment processes are carried out in accordance with our equal opportunities policy.
- Regularly using population data and learner statistics to inform planning and to identify opportunities to assist those who are under-represented or excluded in our professions.
- Putting systems and resources in place to enable lecturers to embed discussions about equality into their teaching and learning.
- Ensuring all teaching resources are free from discriminatory images and language, and reflect the communities in which we work in.
Our EDI focus group made up of teaching, HR and senior management staff meet monthly to discuss and continually review our EDI policies, plans and actions to ensure our activity remains effective. To find out more about our commitment to EDI and the steps we take to achieve this, you can download our full Equality and Diversity Policy, and our Equality and Diversity Statement.
Are you a student with us who has a passion for fairness for all?
In the following video you can meet our 'Be the Change - Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Focus Group' to find out how we are aspiring to strengthen our drive to continually strive to nurture togetherness, to enable all without exception by recruiting some Student Equality and Diversity Champions…
We need our student’s ideas, their thoughts and most importantly their voice – if you are interested in getting involved, please email at us edi@caw.ac.uk to find out more.
We welcome suggestions from our students, staff and wider community to improve how we make the College an inclusive place for all. If you would like to speak to a member of our team about our EDI policies and procedures, please get in touch by calling us on 01480 422060 or emailing us at admin@caw.ac.uk

Race
At the College we have always operated under a zero tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination and strongly oppose racism, intolerance and injustice. We are committed to providing the best support, the best learning experience and the best working environment to all of our students, regardless of racial background. We want you to be confident that racial equality is taken seriously at the College.
We all have a role to play in creating a more safe and equal society. This change begins by arming ourselves with knowledge of bias and prejudice, listening to the experiences of others and standing up against racial prejudice and intolerance in our institutions, workplaces and local communities. As a starting point, we’ve put together some guidance about what we can do to combat racism together:
Educate yourself about racism
It's crucial to learn more about the ways that racism continues to affect our society. Read books, watch videos, listen to podcasts – do your own research and educate yourself in any way that works for you.
Use your online voice to stand against racism
Social media is a powerful tool to promote useful resources, share experiences, highlight injustices and gain support for what you believe in. You can use your platform to amplify voices, share threads/posts with donation links, resources and ways to support action against racism.
Speak up and challenge racism
It's important to be proactively anti-racist and empower yourself and others to challenge poor behaviours to bring about cultural change. This means taking responsibility for tackling racism where you see it.
If you hear people make racist comments or display blatant disrespect, consider challenging their views if it is safe to do so - even if that disrespect is coming from a close friend, family member or colleague. More than this, if you have friends or family who take a different stance on these issues, start a conversation with them and challenge their views. Ask them why they feel the way they do and challenge any biases and negative stereotypes they may have.
You can also get together with like-minded people, and keep the conversation going about how we can do better and discuss what you can do to support the movement towards racial equality.
Support organisations working against racism
Many organisations work hard to dismantle systemic racism and educate the public about racism, but they can’t do what they do without support. Get involved and support organisations who are working against racism, some suggestions are below:
- British Veterinary Ethnicity and Diversity Society – supports those working in the veterinary profession with issues of race, ethnicity, diversity and discrimination
- Animal Aspirations – Student-led initiative which aims to increase diversity in veterinary medicine and animal-related careers through engaging student-led workshops, a positive social media presence and insightful blog posts.
- Show Racism the Red Card – The UKs leading anti-racism educational charity, providing educational workshops, training sessions, multimedia packages, and a whole host of other resources, with the purpose of tackling racism in society.
- Stop Hate UK - Stop Hate UK is one of the leading national organisations working to challenge all forms of Hate Crime and discrimination, based on any aspect of an individual’s identity. Stop Hate UK provides independent, confidential and accessible reporting and support for victims, witnesses and third parties.
- Runnymede - Runnymede is the UK's leading independent race equality think tank. They generate intelligence to challenge race inequality in Britain through research, network building, leading debate, and policy engagement.
Listen to the feelings and experiences of others
The best way to understand racial injustice is by listening to people who experience it. We cannot be afraid to discuss oppression and discrimination for fear of “getting it wrong.” Instead, we need to listen empathetically, validate the experiences of other people and engage in complex conversations about race and injustice, no matter how difficult and uncomfortable they might be. Check in on your friends, family and colleagues; start honest conversations about race and ask what you can do to support people.
Acknowledge your own privileges and biases
It’s important to examine how your background makes you privileged, so you can use this privilege to create change and educate others in your community.
Our experiences shape the way we view the world. Often, some of our experiences produce and reinforce bias, stereotypes and prejudice, which can lead to discrimination. Examining and challenging our own biases, as well as understanding their implications, is the first step towards challenging them.
For example, think: what messages did you receive as a child about people who are different from you? What was the racial and/or ethnic make-up of your neighbourhood or school? These experiences can produce and reinforce bias, stereotypes, and prejudice, which can lead to discrimination. Examining our own biases can help us work to ensure equality for all.
Make your vote count and write to your MP
When the time comes to cast your vote at the ballot box, make sure you’re fully informed and voting for someone who is dedicated to creating a more inclusive and equal society for all. Think about who you vote for. Review the policies and beliefs of the party you want to vote for. More than this, write to your MP about racial injustice and appeal for their support. You can write to your elected representative even if you did not vote for them.
Further Reading and Resources
