WP in HE

Jayne Stanyer

8th March 2011

What is Widening Participation

“Widening participation addresses the large discrepancies in the take-up of higher education opportunities between different social groups. Under-representation is closely connected with broader issues of equity and social inclusion, so we are concerned with ensuring equality of opportunity for disabled students, mature students, women and men, and all ethnic groups.”

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/widen/

Main groups who are underrepresented in HE

Top 5

1. White working class males

2. Black males from all social classes

3. Muslim females from all social classes

4. Disabled males and females

5. White working class females

Source: UCAS

Main groups who are underrepresented in HE con’t

White working-class boys becoming an underclass

White teenagers are less likely to go to university than school-leavers from other ethnic groups - even with the same A-level results, according to official figures

  By Graeme Paton, Education Editor

Published: 2:44PM BST 18 Jun 2008

Government Changes….

Its all changing for university access for students

Fees – up to £9,000 University Access Agreements Fear!

Universities face tuition fee levy for poorer students - By Sean

Coughlan BBC News education correspondent

“Universities have been told how much they should give back to support poorer students

Universities in England wanting to charge fees of £9,000 per year could have to spend £900 of that

income on access for poorer students.”

The Office for Fair Access (Offa) has published guidelines…It sets a sliding scale ranging from 15% to 30% of fee income above £6,000.

8 March 2011 Last updated at 10:30

So what is being done about it?

• OFFA (Office For Fair Access) created in 2004

‘Working collaboratively we promote fair access to higher education in particular for low income and other under-represented groups’

http://www.offa.org.uk/

So what is being done about it?

• Tuition Fee tie-in also monitored by OFFA• All HEI’s have to publish Access Agreements• UoP Access Agreement - *“University remains committed to ensuring equality of access to its courses from all sections of the community and will seek to ensure that its admissions, bursary and scholarship policies will remain clear, well articulated and supportive.” *http://www.offa.org.uk/agreements/University%20of%20Plymouth%20Access%20Agreement%

20approved%2019.5.08.pdf (awaiting new AA for 2011-12)

The Widening Participation Dept

Main Team (Julie, Helen, Lois [Placement Student] Brendan & Me) work with students from ages 10 – 19

Also have a Mature Students Guidance worker (Pippa Waller)

Each Faculty has a Widening Participation Officer and has to provide a yearly plan of interventions

Main team focus mainly on outreach

Work in liaison with AimHigher, HEFCE, RDA and TDA

Criteria for choice of schools as KEY target schools

Percentage of those eligible for free school meals Low Participation in HE (National Average approx.

48%*) Geographical areas social/economic deprivation and

regeneration (postcode analysis) School achievement data (GCSE) Rural isolation and distance from HE provision

We currently work with 23 schools on the Compact Scheme and 6 through Mentoring. With PLUSS all secondary schools in Plymouth are included in addition to the Compact Schools.

*Source: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk

What kind of work

Year 5 – 8 Student Volunteer Tutoring Scheme Year 9 -13 – Taster Days to the University Year 10/11 – Mentoring + Tutoring Year 11 – Residential Summer Schools (UniTasters) Year 11 – Transition Programme Year 12 – Residential Summer Schools Year 12/13 – Compact Programme Year 10 to 12 – Information & Guidance Over 21’s – Guidance & Advice

Does it work? Evaluation difficult as largely qualitative as

opposed to quantative

Compact Scheme progression

*2002 = 41% (UoP 13%) 2009 = 49% (UoP 26%)

Performance at **GCSE level showed significant gains in those Students being mentored

*Source. UoP Compact Evaluation Report** Source. Warwick University National Mentoring Project Evaluation Report 2004 (National Scheme ended 2004)

Does it work?

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_08.pl?Mode=Z&No=8794172&Type=LA&Begin=b&Num=879&Phase=1&Year=08&Base=b

Websites...to name a few

You may find the following websites interesting and they will give you more information about widening participation.

http://www.education.gov.uk/performancetables/ http://www.hefce.ac.uk http://www.dcsf.gov.uk http://www.offa.org.uk http://www.lsc.gov.uk http://www.southwestrda.org.uk http://www.actiononaccess.org http://www.aimhighersw.ac.uk

First Impressions

First Impressions

According to Wallace (2003) first impressions are very important and can help or hinder the [relationships] mentoring relationship.

Wallace B (2003) Practical issues of student assessment Nursing Standard 17,31,33-6

First Meetings

Studies confirm that people form impressions extremely quickly when meeting others for the first time: initial impressions are crucial, which applies to all 'first meetings', whether in business, dating, or any other situation.

First Meetings

Be open minded – you may be pleasantly surprised

Some of the young people will be very talented, although quite challenging

Always make your own judgements, don’t be swayed by others in the school environment

Any Questions