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Policy drivers and issues for contextual admissions in Scotland Kirsty Conlon

Policy drivers and issues for contextual admissions in Scotland Kirsty Conlon Head of Learning & Teaching & Widening Access Policy Universities Scotland SPA conference, Dundee, 10 December 2013. The context. Widening access Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act Outcome agreements

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Policy drivers and issues for contextual admissions in Scotland Kirsty Conlon

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  1. Policy drivers and issues for contextual admissions in Scotland Kirsty Conlon Head of Learning & Teaching & Widening Access Policy Universities Scotland SPA conference, Dundee, 10 December 2013

  2. The context • Widening access • Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act • Outcome agreements • Additional places • Universities Scotland’s work on widening access • Admissions more generally • Curriculum for Excellence • Pressure on student numbers • Issues • Who are we widening access to? • What are we widening access to? • How do we measure widening access?

  3. Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act • Great deal of interest in widening access as the then Bill moved through Parliament: • MSPs • Unions • NUS (report on access summer 2012) • Media • Personal priority for Cabinet Secretary • Bill as introduced: “The Scottish Ministers may […] impose a condition that the Council, when making a payment […] must require the institution to comply with a widening access agreement of such description as the Scottish Ministers may specify”

  4. Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act • Perception: Universities not doing enough on access • Result: • Statutory basis for widening access agreements (part of outcome agreements) • Triennial review of access

  5. Outcome agreements: origins • Introduced 2012-13 before then Post-16 Education (Scotland) Bill introduced • Builds on access agreements in place with some institutions • Part of “something for something” deal of Spending Reviews • Outcome agreements key to SFC agenda • Access arguably most significant part of outcome agreements

  6. Outcome agreements: content • Focus on • Scottish domicile • SIMD 20 & 40 • Care leavers • Gender • Retention • Institutional measures • Push for introduction of contextual admissions

  7. Outcome agreements: reflections • Mixed experiences from institutions • Ongoing refinement • Somewhat rushed • Becoming more sophisticated • Remain important for spending reviews

  8. Additional funded places from 2013-14 • Articulation • 1,020 places across 14 institutions • 0.8 % of places allocated • Widening access places • 727 places across 9 institutions • Focused on ‘research intensives’ and one small specialist institution • 0.6 % of places allocated

  9. Additional funded places from 2013-14 • Undergraduate skills • 342 places across 11 institutions • Predominantly ‘research intensives’ • 0.3 % of places allocated • Focus on key industry sectors of energy and life sciences • Taught postgraduate skills • 815 places across 16 institutions • 0.7 % of places allocated

  10. Additional funded places from 2013-14 • Overall, these additional places are 2.3% of total funded places • Also new places in 2012-13 and/or 2013-14 for • STEM subjects • UHI • British Sign Language • Regional Coherence • Crichton campus • Community Education (UWS) • BUT it’s not just about new places

  11. Universities Scotland’s work on widening access • Commissioned a literature review on ‘What Works in Widening Access’ from Centre for Research in Education Inclusion & Diversity (CREID) at University of Edinburgh • Access All Areas report – case studies • Parliamentary reception • Recommendations by Christmas

  12. Curriculum for Excellence • Admissions policies changing • Potentially more diversity between schools • Potentially more diversity between applicants

  13. Pressures on student numbers • Consolidation controls • Increasing applications • 2013 entry, applications by end of June • 1.2 % increase from Scotland • 14.0 % increase from England • 4.1 % increase from other EU • 6.1% increase from international • Selecting, not recruiting

  14. Who are we widening access to? • Universities diverse range of target groups; SFC focus on SIMD • Only Scottish domiciled students? • Unconscious focus on young FT students?

  15. What are we widening access to? • Regionalisation agenda • Focus on some types of institutions rather than others? • Post undergraduate study… • Employment • PGT study

  16. How do we measure widening access? • How we measure widening access will influence who we target • Many issues with SIMD as a measure • Universities Scotland work on alternative measures

  17. So what? • Widening access a continuing policy priority and only likely to become more so. • The sector needs to demonstrate progress • A lot of store set on contextual admissions as one of the means to achieve this. • Increased pressure on contextual admissions if additional places phased out.

  18. Thank you www.universities-scotland.ac.uk Follow us on Twitter: @uni_scot kirsty@universities-scotland.ac.uk

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