This data collection includes the qualitative interview and focus group data for the senior leaders and academic staff interviewed at three universities in South Africa as part of phase 2 of a research study of student transitions for rural areas to higher education in South Africa. Interviews and focus groups were conducted to support an in-depth participatory research process (phase 1) involving 71 student co-researchers who collected multimodal narratives on their own lives and transition experiences over the course of one year. The two data collection handbooks prepared for the research project (phase 1 with. student co-researchers, phase 2 - senior leaders and academics) are also included and a working paper on the methodology of the research. The research findings demonstrated the numerous challenges for students from rural contexts in accessing university, including linguistic, cultural and technological barriers and divides. The research also highlighted the deeply rooted historical effects of colonialism and apartheid, which continue to shape the educational pathways of young people in rural areas in South Africa, through severe educational and infrastructural constraints and enforced mobilities. However, what we sought to make more visible, were the rich and diverse lives of students from rural areas, including their extensive cultural and local knowledge, their roles and responsibilities within communities, the importance of familial and community support. These funds of knowledge were critical to successful transitions to higher education. Yet these were often ignored or unrecognised by higher education institutions, making transitions far more difficult. The research further identified how university learning environments and staff within them do not always acknowledge or value the knowledges and skills that students have developed in their rural communities or the distinctiveness of their home languages, prior educational experiences and trajectories. This leads to difficulties in participating in teaching and learning and in the social fabric of university. Whilst many of the challenges of widening access were acknowledged in interviews with senior and academic staff, there continue to be powerful structural and cultural constraints and resistance that frustrate opportunities to decolonise curricula and teaching practices. In our study, students from rural contexts wanted to be recognised as key contributors to knowledge production and to learning and teaching activities that are relevant for all students. These experiences have implications for university policies on education and student wellbeing in South Africa, other Southern African contexts, UK and globally.The research project (also known as SARiHE- Southern African Rurality in Higher education) sought to address the knowledge gap that exists regarding the transition from rural school and home contexts to university learning in Southern Africa. The study traced the implications of this transition in order to develop inclusive teaching and learning practices and support mechanisms in universities, as well as developing awareness in an international audience of the influence of rural life on higher education, and how this influence plays out in Southern Africa as a specific region. The research has made significant contributions to debates on widening participation, equity, social justice and post-colonial curricula in higher education across Southern Africa and more widely across the Global South. The study shed light on the many misconceptions and stereotypes about rural existence, but in addition, explored the extent to which there are real constraints as well as opportunities provided by living in rural areas. We also investigated how the students strategise to manage the constraints they have experienced and strengths they possess. In order to ensure context-sensitivity and sustainability, a participatory research approach was adopted. This involved the training of a select group of students to act as co-researchers and partners in the research. They documented their own experiences as researchers, using personal documentaries created using iPads, engaging in dialogue with lecturers and administrators at key moments in the project. Three research strategies were key to the project: the first, an advanced literature review and a scrutiny of publically available documentation on macro-trends and socio-economic indicators on rurality. The second, the training of 71 second-year students in the humanities and the science and technology fields to become educational researchers.

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