What are the key widening

participation challenges for

Higher Education and how might

they be addressed?

Chris Millward

Director (Policy)

13th July 2016

Teaching income to HEIs – 2010-17

Teaching Income to HEIs

HE expenditure on widening participation

Trends in young participation by POLAR3

Young participation rates in England by POLAR3

Source: HEFCE 2013/28 – ‘Trends in young participation’. Projections based on Figure 69 from ‘UCAS End of Cycle Report 2015’, www.ucas.com

BME entry rates

Source: Figure 88 from ‘UCAS End of Cycle Report 2015’, www.ucas.com

Entry rates for English 18 year old state school pupils by ethnic group

Trends in young participation by gender

Young participation rates in England by gender

Source: HEFCE 2013/28 – ‘Trends in young participation’. Projections based on Figure 80 from ‘UCAS End of Cycle Report 2015’, www.ucas.com

Accounting for qualificationscloses the gender gap in HE participationThis example looks at HE participation of pupils with at least 3 A-levels (2010-11):

Source: HEFCE 2015/03 ‘Young participation in higher education – A-levels and similar qualifications

Part-time and full-time entrants, undergraduate and postgraduate

Source: HEFCE analysis of HESES/HEIFES data

UK and other EU entrants to English institutions 2008-09 to 2015-16

Gaps in young participation: LiverpoolYoung participation: Liverpool

BME A-level Analysis2013-14 graduates by ethnicity, entry qualification and degree classification

Source: HEFCE September 2015, Differences in degree outcomes: The effect of subject and student characteristics

Student background and NSS

Source: HEFCE 11 year analysis of NSS data

Intentions After Graduation vs Actual Progression to PG study

Employment outcomes by disability status

Unexplained percentage point difference in employment rates, by employment rate measure and disability status

Source: HEFCE 2015/23 ‘Differences in employment outcomes – Equality and diversity characteristics’

Employment outcomes by ethnic group

Unexplained percentage point difference in employment rates, by employment rate measure and ethnicity

Source: HEFCE 2015/23 ‘Differences in employment outcomes – Equality and diversity characteristics’

• White working class males throughout the lifecycle

• BME outcomes within and beyond HE

• Outcomes for students reporting disabilities within and beyond HE

• Cold spots for HE participation (absolute and relative to attainment)

• Postgraduate progression

• Mature students and lifetime learning

• Young full-time access to HE is important, but social mobility requires a much broader focus

• We need to continue to improve the evidence informing our work and evaluating its impact

Some priorities from the evidence

Teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice

• Eligibility requirement for Access and Participation agreement or equivalent

• Benchmarked core metrics split by student characteristics

• Specific criteria and guidance to consider performance re: positive outcomes for students from disadvantaged groups

• DoFA to consider ‘gaming’ in TEF

TEF and Widening Participation

• OfS statutory duty to cover equality of opportunity across the whole lifecycle for disadvantaged students

• Transparency duty, requiring information by gender, ethnicity and social background at subject level

• Discrete role / appointment for Director of Fair Access & Participation

• Flexible, innovative and lifetime learning, including Degree Apprenticeships

• New approaches to:

• loan finance – Master’s and Doctoral, STEM ELQ, part-time maintenance, nursing / allied, DSA.

• teaching grant – collaborative outreach; student premium; inclusive models of support for disabled students.

Widening participation in UK HER Bill

Thank you for listening

c.millward@hefce.ac.uk

How to find out more

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web-site www.hefce.ac.uk

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