BCU has launched its plan for further increasing the opportunities it offers for students from a range of disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education.
Earlier this week, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Clare Mackie confirmed details of the University’s new Access and Participation plan for 2020-25 to staff at the DVC Briefing, following approval by the Director of Fair Access at the Office for Students (OfS).
The University’s plan for 2020-25 focuses on four key areas: access to education; continuation; degree attainment and progression to graduate jobs and further study. Each area is assessed against five main historically disadvantaged groups including those with low socioeconomic status, BAME students, care leavers, students declaring a disability and mature students.
Based on this assessment, 15 targets have now been agreed as part of the plan, with the University aiming to make a real difference by 2024/25.
Access for all
Analysis of HESA data in the plan highlights the amount of BCU students that are classed as ‘extremely disadvantaged’, particularly when it comes to students from low-participation and deprived neighbourhoods, while the University also welcomed a significantly higher number of care leaver students from the West Midlands compared to the rest of the region in 2017/18.
Plans to improve access for low-participation neighbourhoods are already in place with the announcement of the £1.2 million education hub in Kingstanding with IntoUniversity opening this month before being formally launched by our Chancellor Sir Lenny Henry in March 2020. Parts of the area currently sees only 13.5% of schoolchildren go on to study at university compared to 78% of young people in parts of Sutton Coldfield. The centre is due to open in 2020, with over 1,000 students expected to access after-school academic support, workshops and mentoring each year.
Over recent years BCU has observed a fall of 4.2% in mature student entrants due to the withdrawal of the NHS Bursary; however, developments in Level 5 and Level 6 Nursing Apprenticeship degrees are expected to reverse this trend.
For disability, the plan shows that BCU has a lower rate of self-reported disability compared to the sector, including cognitive and learning disabilities.
Part of the plan to improve the reporting of disability involves the University’s new assessment centre, Success+, which will screen targeted new students as well as returning students either self-referred or referred by a member of staff for disabilities.
Success for all: Continuation and attainment
Since 2014/15 the University has seen a drop in continuation rates for all under-represented groups. The plan attributes the trend to the centralisation of Academic Services as well as the introduction of new academic regulations. For example, BAME student continuation fell from around 93% in 2013/14 to 88% in 2016/17.
However, the latest regulations published in 2018 have already made a positive impact on continuation with an two per cent overall increase, and the University plans to further reduce the gap by 2024/25.
Other changes across the University, including the creation of school offices and the introduction of the Success+ assessment centre, will also provide students with greater support for continuing their studies.
Meanwhile, work is currently being undertaken to include key admissions demographic data in SITS, which will empower schools to take disadvantaged characteristics into consideration when supporting a student falling behind with their course.
Progression for all
The University has already seen significant improvements over the last five years in student progression thanks to programmes such as Graduate+ and Careers+, reducing the progression gaps for many disadvantaged students.
However, the plan identifies three groups who the University can better support with securing graduate jobs and further study: students from the most deprived neighbourhoods, Asian students and care leavers.
While Graduate+ and Careers+ will actively support these students, BCU has also secured funding for a collaboration project with Aston University, Birmingham City Council, The West Midlands Combined Authority, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Jobcentre Plus to support BCU graduates who subsequently registered for Universal Credit.
Click here to view the University’s Access and Participation plan, including our targets for 2025.