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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
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Lifelong Learning Statistics User DayWidening Participation Workshop26th 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 Population Estimates HE Student Figures
Gross Enrolment Population Estimates HE Student Figures 279,615 5,168,500 = 5.4%
Gross Enrolment 5.41% 5.14% 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 54.7% 43.2% Devolution
Age Participation Index Increasing Enrolments Decreasing 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 Scotland OECD average 57% 56%
OECD Net Entry Rate Designed to provide international comparisons Is HE provision in other countries like for like? Scotland is a net importer of students 59% 57% 50%
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 www.sns.gov.uk
Widening Access Student Records Postcode Files Non-deprived 6,505 datazones 20% lowest ranks are 0001 to 1301 About 2% of records can’t be matched by postcodes – these are excluded SIMD Database
Widening Access 14.9% - 19.0% = - 4.1
Widening Access Scottish domiciled entrants from Deprived Areas to Higher Education in the UK by institution type and academic year: 2001-02 to 2008-09 Under representation
Widening Access Scottish domiciled entrants from Deprived Areas to Higher Education in the UK by institution type and academic year: 2001-02 to 2008-09 Entrants Population Under representation
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
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 25.1% – 19.3% = 5.8 (Over represented)
Widening Access Proportion of Students Entering Part Time Higher Education in 2007/08 by Deprived Area 17.3% – 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 19.5% - 19.3% = 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 Jeanette.Hagerstrom@Scotland.gsi.gov.uk Carolyn Fishman, Higher Education and Learner Support Policy Carolyn.Fishman@Scotland.gsi.gov.uk Andrew Walker, Lifelong Learning Statistics, Andrew.Walker@Scotland.gsi.gov.uk Telephone: 0300 244 6774
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: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Life-Long-Learning Lifelong Learning Research: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/by-topic/education-and-training Lifelong Learning Statistics www.scotland.gov.uk/llstatistics Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) www.sns.gov.uk Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD ScotStat www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/scotstat