Lifelong Learning Statistics User Day Widening Participation Workshop 26 th March 2010 Jeanette Hagerstrom Carolyn Fishman Andrew Walker

General The link between educational attainment and poverty in the UK and elsewhere has been clearly demonstrated There is a disproportionately small participation by lower socio-economic groups in all OECD countries who attend HE Access to HE continues to be divided on socio economic grounds. Universities are both receivers and creators of social advantage.

Prior attainment when controlling for prior attainment in school students from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds have very similar participation rates in HE the main obstacle for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds is that they do not get the same school results to the same extent as their more advantaged peers.

Early years, attitudes, motivation, and age the more positive the attitude towards school, the more likely it is that a young person intends to apply to university for many young people the curriculum, qualifications system and associated teaching styles are not suitable students/ young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds also tend to express concerns about their self confidence/ esteem and ability to ‘fit in’ in HE those taking alternative routs into and through HE are more likely to be older and come from more deprived areas.

Other issues generally young people have positive attitudes to debt in the context of HE. Those less willing to participate in HE have more negative attitudes to debt SIED data shows that part time students and mature students have higher debts and expenditure than other students while there are benefits of HE for women in the labour market, women are still disadvantaged in terms of pay and career opportunities.

Policy The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council have a number of policies aimed at widening access and at encouraging non-traditional learners to participate in higher education. We currently use the API and those young people entering full-time higher education from deprived areas as a measure of participation from this group.

Policy (2) We recognise that many non-traditional learners return to higher education at an older age and many choose part-time study as an alternative mode of participation in higher education. We continue to be interested in the movement of young people from deprived areas into higher education but we also need a clear and reliable indicator that gives a more rounded picture of all participation in all modes of higher education

Participation in Higher Education and Widening Access Methods behind our published participation analysis and headline results Update on our review of participation Methods and explanation of results of widening access statistics Extra analysis linking API to SIMD Group exercise to let us know what you think

Current Measures of Participation Gross Enrolment Age Participation Index (API) Alternatives: –OECD Comparison –All Ages All Modes Review of Participation Measures

Gross Enrolment HE Student Figures Population Estimates

Gross Enrolment HE Student Figures Population Estimates 279,615 5,168,500 = 5.4%

Gross Enrolment 5.14% 5.41% Increase of 0.27 percentage points

Age Participation Index Interest in traditional entrants. Projection based on current trends. Expected participation of 17 year olds, by the time they are 21. Full-time, first degree, Scots entrants.

Age Participation Index Devolution 54.7% 43.2%

Age Participation Index Increasing EnrolmentsDecreasing API

Age Participation Index Full-time enrolments Under 21 years old New entrants to HE Scottish Domiciled “Traditional” Decreasing API

OECD Net Entry Rate Entrants to Scottish Institutions First degree level study All ages Full-time and part-time 56%57% OECD averageScotland

OECD Net Entry Rate 50% 59% 57% Designed to provide international comparisons Is HE provision in other countries like for like? Scotland is a net importer of students

All Ages All Modes Measure Scottish entrants anywhere in the UK First degree level study All ages Full-time and part-time

All Ages All Modes Measure 41%46%42%

Participation Gross Enrolment – easy to calculate and interpret but very general API – projection of uptake through traditional route, difficult to interpret and very specific (too specific?) OECD Net Entry – useful for international comparisons, though overestimates participation. Are we comparing like with like? All Ages All Modes – useful for comparisons to UK wide entry rates

Review of Measures of Participation Commissioned research report comprising: –Literature review –Stakeholder consultation –Report and recommendations Full report published May/June this year Available online and issued through ScotStat register

Widening Access Method behind comparisons of entrants from deprived areas. Explanation of published results. And a treat! – unpublished results looking at which entrant groups are least represented in higher education.

Widening Access Generally entrants from disadvantaged backgrounds For SG this means 20% most deprived areas of Scotland Deprivation levels determined by SIMD

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) Splits Scotland into 6,505 datazones Datazone median population of 767 Deprivation index based on employment, income, health, education, access to services and crime. Employment and income have greatest weight

Widening Access Non-deprived 6,505 datazones 20% lowest ranks are 0001 to 1301 Student RecordsPostcode Files SIMD Database About 2% of records can’t be matched by postcodes – these are excluded

Widening Access Scottish domiciled entrants from deprived areas to higher education in the UK by institution type: Type of Institution All entrants A - Percentage of entrants from deprived areas B - Percentage of total population in deprived areas C - Percentage of working age population in deprived areas Percentage point (pp) difference at institutions (A - B) Percentage point (pp) difference at institutions (A - C) Colleges35, %19.2%19.0% Ancient Universities17,3307.8%19.2%19.0% Newer Universities14, %19.2%19.0% Post-92 Universities32, %19.2%19.0% Specialised HEIs9706.6%19.2%19.0% Open University8, %19.2%19.0% Universities outside Scotland5,8857.4%19.2%19.0% All entrants115, %19.2%19.0% % % = - 4.1

Widening Access Scottish domiciled entrants from Deprived Areas to Higher Education in the UK by institution type and academic year: to Percentage of HE entrants from deprived areas Type of Institution A - All entrants from deprived areas14.0%14.2% 14.9%15.0% 14.8%14.9% B - % of Scottish population living in deprived areas 20.4%20.2%20.0%19.8%19.7%19.6%19.3%19.2% C - % of Scottish working age population living in deprived areas 19.8%19.6%19.5% 19.4% 19.0% Under-representation of total population from deprived areas (A - B) Under-representation of working age population from deprived areas (A - C) Under representation

Widening Access

Scottish domiciled entrants from Deprived Areas to Higher Education in the UK by institution type and academic year: to Percentage of HE entrants from deprived areas Type of Institution A - All entrants from deprived areas14.0%14.2% 14.9%15.0% 14.8%14.9% B - % of Scottish population living in deprived areas 20.4%20.2%20.0%19.8%19.7%19.6%19.3%19.2% C - % of Scottish working age population living in deprived areas 19.8%19.6%19.5% 19.4% 19.0% Under-representation of total population from deprived areas (A - B) Under-representation of working age population from deprived areas (A - C) Under representation Population Entrants

Widening Access

Are entrants from deprived areas under represented equally across all learner types? Are all deprived areas equal? Initially looked at entrants from the traditional group – using API and SIMD…

Widening Access Proportion of Young People Participating in Full Time Higher Education in 2007/08 by SIMD Vigintile 20% most deprived areas

Widening Access Proportion of Young People from Deprived Areas Participating in Full Time Higher Education in 2007/08 by Local Authority

Widening Access Proportion of Young People from Deprived Areas Participating in Full Time Higher Education in 2007/08 by Institution Area% of Young People entering Full Time HE in 2007/08 Deprived area doing Full Time HE at a College 15.3 Deprived area doing Full Time HE at a University 10.6 Non-Deprived area doing Full Time HE at a College 15.1 Non-Deprived area doing Full Time HE at a University 33.6

Widening Access Are entrants from deprived areas under represented equally across all learner types? Are all deprived areas equal? Initially looked at entrants from the traditional group – using API and SIMD What about other entrants?

Widening Access Proportion of Older Students Entering Full Time Higher Education in 2007/08 by Deprived Area Area% of Older Students doing Full-Time HE% of Scotland’s Population From a Deprived Area From a Non-Deprived Area % – 19.3% = 5.8 (Over represented)

Widening Access Proportion of Students Entering Part Time Higher Education in 2007/08 by Deprived Area Area% of Students doing Part-Time HE% of Scotland’s Population From a Deprived Area From a Non-Deprived Area % – 19.3% = -2.0 (Slight under representation)

Widening Access Proportion of Older and Part-time Entrants to Higher Education in 2007/08 by Deprived Area Area% of older and part-time entrants% of Scotland’s Population From a Deprived Area From a Non-Deprived Area % % = 0.2 (Pretty close!)

Widening Access Under representation of deprived areas Value of colleges in these areas Young people from deprived areas half as likely to participate in full-time study Variable by local authority Over representation of older learners from deprived areas Only slight under representation of part-time learners Almost equal representation of older and part- time learners (when taken together)

Questions? Contacts: Jeanette Hagerstrom, Lifelong Learning Research Carolyn Fishman, Higher Education and Learner Support Policy Andrew Walker, Lifelong Learning Statistics, Telephone:

Group Discussion What does Participation/Widening Access mean to you? What do you want from measures of participation? (are you interested in the widening access group?) How would you assess our current statistics? Suggestions on how we can meet your needs for reporting on participation.

Useful Links Lifelong Learning topic page: Lifelong Learning Research: Lifelong Learning Statistics Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation ScotStat