1 www.exeter.ac.uk

Access and Participation Plan 20/21-24/25

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Access and Participation Plan 2020-21 to 2024-25 The University of Exeter is committed to the principle that everyone with the potential to benefit from higher education should have equal opportunity to do so. We believe that fair access to higher education is a fundamental enabler for social mobility, improving life opportunities and outcomes for individual students, while benefiting the economy and society as a whole. Increasing equality of opportunity for students at all stages is a priority for this University. While we have seen sustained improvements in the diversity of our student body, and high rates of retention, attainment and progression, we know there is much more to do, particularly around access and in closing the gaps between different student groups.

Widening Participation has been a long-term commitment for this University and under the leadership of our Vice Chancellor’s Executive Group we have sought to be at the forefront of innovations now widely accepted as good practice, including early adoption of contextualised offer making; school sponsorship to support pupil attainment; and the development of learning analytics to help students manage their academic performance. More recently, we have invested in a Centre for Social Mobility, which we believe is a unique forum in which researchers and practitioners work together to achieve a common impact agenda. We are hopeful the evaluation toolkit developed by the Centre for the OfS together with its leadership of the evaluation capability support for National Outreach Collaborative Partnerships will help practitioners nationwide in developing effective interventions and that the Centre will continue to make valuable contributions to sector knowledge and practice in years to come. We welcome the approaches taken by the Office to Students to encourage this University and the sector to be ambitious, transparent and evidence-led. We believe this plan is both considered and high-reaching, and most importantly will bring about positive outcomes.

1. Assessment of performance

We are pleased to have achieved some success over recent years in increasing recruitment from under-represented and disadvantaged groups - particularly students from low participation neighbourhoods, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students and student with disabilities - but we recognise there is more to do. Around 17% of entrants are from the South West. They are more likely than all students to be mature, from a low income household, state school educated, or live in a low participation neighbourhood. Around 35% come from POLAR Q1 or 2, compared to 13.5% of our students from other areas. By comparison for example, students from London, are more likely to be younger, BAME and less likely to be from areas of low HE participation; although BAME students are more likely than their peers to be from areas of deprivation. Excluding state school, over 50% of our students have one or more indicators of disadvantage or under-representation and more than a fifth come from the poorest households (i.e. with incomes below £25k p.a.). Our students are typically high-achieving, passionate and dedicated people who go on to excel academically and enjoy successful careers, but this isn’t the case for everyone. We recognise we can go further to be more representative of the wider population for the benefit of the region and the diversity of graduates in the labour market. We can see from our own data that having secured their place to study with us, not all students may realise their potential. Our ambition is not only to attract applicants from diverse and under-represented groups to the University of Exeter but to retain them and support their success within an inclusive community. 1.1 Local context

The University’s local region of Devon and Cornwall covers around 4,000 square miles and extends 180 miles from the Somerset border to the Isles of Scilly. Coastal and largely rural, the main population centres are Plymouth, Exeter and Torbay, which account for almost one third of the total

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population of around 1.7 million. While generally standards of living are good, the area contains pockets of deprivation, with 59 lower-layer super output areas (LSOAs) within the most deprived 10% of areas in England. These include 27 neighbourhoods in Plymouth (including Stonehouse among the 1% most deprived); 14 in Torbay; 17 in Cornwall; two in Exeter and two in North Devon. HEFCE’s Gap Ward analysis shows the two counties have an average young participation rate in higher education of 31.9% compared with 41.6% for Greater London. Over 8% of wards within Devon and Cornwall fall into the lowest 20% of young people entering higher education in England.

The area includes 23% of England’s coastal communities. Three of these – Torbay, Torridge and North Devon – are amongst the 10 worst local authority areas in the UK for lowest average pay, whilst Torridge has one of the country’s highest unemployment rates1. The two counties have long associations with the military, particularly the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and host major bases including Stonehouse, Chivenor, Lympstone and Raleigh.

We also serve a wider South West region, sharing borders with Somerset and Dorset. This area includes our nearest Opportunity Area of West Somerset, which is served by a single secondary school which we support through our regional NCOP and Realising Opportunities. The physical size and rural nature of our locality present challenges in delivering our outreach programmes and maintaining close relationships with our local schools. With driving times of between two and three hours between the edges of our local area and a lack of public transport links to rural communities, delivering multiple interventions to widely dispersed students require innovative approaches.

The area has low levels of ethnic diversity. The population of Cornwall, for example, is just 1.4% Asian/Asian British and 0.7% Black/Black British compared with a national average of 7.5% and 3.3% respectively. While the University is ethnically diverse, welcoming students from more than 150 different countries from around the world, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students make up a smaller proportion of the UK/EU cohort than the sector and Russell Group averages. We want to create a more diverse student community and are achieving this by extending our outreach into areas beyond the South West such as London and Birmingham.

As a leading employer, we contribute substantially to social mobility through job creation and generating income within the region and are active in supporting regional prosperity and communities through our Regional Skills and Community Strategies. An economic impact assessment in 2017, concluded the University contributed £777.8m of output and 7,805 FTE jobs in the Heart of the South West LEP and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly LEP areas in 2015/16, making an overall contribution to local GVA of £443.8m2.

1.2 Higher education participation, household income, or socioeconomic status Access: We have made sustained improvements in the recruitment of students from low participation neighbourhoods (POLAR4 LPN), rising from 12.7% (Q1/Q2) in 13/14 to an estimated 15.3% in 18/19. This compares to 36.9% within the 18-year-old population. We therefore endorse the key performance measure (KPM) for low participation as PTA 1: Ratio of entrants who are from POLAR4 Q1&2 compared to Q4&5 in order to reflect our broader approach. Our aim is that the ratio of students from the lowest represented areas (Q1&2) compared to the highest (Q4&5) will grow to 1:3 by 2024/25. The majority of our fair access work is focused in the South West and we are encouraged that more than one-third of entrants from our local region are from POLAR4 Q1&2. We have set the ambitious target of achieving parity in representation between students in the least and most represented neighbourhoods from the South West, i.e. a 1:1 ratio between Q1 and Q5. PTA 2: Ratio of entrants from the South West from POLAR4 Q1 compared to Q5. 1 Living on the Edge: Britain’s Coastal Communities, Social Mobility Foundation, 2017 2 The Economic Impact of the University of Exeter, Viewforth Consulting Ltd, 2017

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Analysis of internal admissions data shows that LPN Q1 students are disproportionately ‘lost’ at both offer and acceptance stages and we continue to explore the role of entry qualifications and intersections with other characteristics such as age and locality. We need to work across quintiles as POLAR is not a proxy for socio-economic disadvantage, for example 57% of our students in Q1 are from a low income household but so are 20% in Q5. While the proportion of POLAR Q1&2 students is increasing, the percentage of students from state school has remained steady and the percentage from low-income households has decreased. Meanwhile, POLAR is recognised as limited for certain parts of the country, such as London, a key catchment area for the University and a focus for our widening participation work. For these reasons we seek to include a target to help us focus on supporting students from state schools within the areas of most deprivation including parts of our own region, such as Cornwall, where IMD areas don’t neatly map on to lower participation neighbourhoods. PTA 3: Percentage of entrants from IMD 1&2 and state school intends to help the effectiveness of our recruitment and outreach activities in targeting those from under-represented groups and from areas of deprivation. Non-continuation: We have excellent rates of retention across our student population, with continuation rates at around 98%. Our LPN Q1 students experience a slighter lower continuation rate (94%). While not statistically significant for the University, we are keen to reduce this sustained gap and ensure that as we increase the proportion of students from low participation areas they are well supported and retained. We endorse (OfS) KPM3 as a target (PTS 1: POLAR4 Q1 non-continuation gap v Q5). We have noted there is a large crossover between IMD and POLAR and a similar non-continuation gap for IMD Q1 students. When deciding on the most appropriate target, we felt that POLAR was a better measure as it related to a larger number of students, met national priorities and was persistent. While we observed an increase in the gap for IMD students in 16/17, we could not observe a trend. Our interventions will aim to be effective for both groups and we will continue to monitor the gap in non-continuation for IMD and revisit our targets if appropriate. Attainment: We have an excellent record of student attainment and have been successful in reducing the gap for between LPNQ1 and Q5 students in achieving Good Honours to 4ppt in 17/18. This is substantially below the sector average of 9ppt. There is a sustained attainment gap for IMD Q1, however intersectional analysis indicates that ethnicity is a primary factor, therefore this will be addressed under PTS 3. Progression to employment or further study: We have been highly successful in reducing - and indeed reversing - the gap in graduate destinations between students from low participation neighbourhoods and their peers (from 7ppt in 14/15 to a reverse gap of -2ppt 16/17 for Q1&2 compared to Q3-5) outperforming the sector. This is attributed to a significant focus and additional investment in employability initiatives, support and internships for key groups. We recognise, however, that this has not been mirrored in the outcomes for our students with the lowest household incomes. Our analysis using the OfS toolkit and dataset for the evaluation of financial support analysis showed no significant difference to the control group for those with low household incomes, however students from the highest income households were more likely to gain a graduate destination and internal data continues to show a sustained gap particularly for those with income <£25k, who automatically qualify for an Access to Exeter bursary. We have therefore set a target PTP1: Progression gap for students from the lowest household income (Access to Exeter bursary) v high income. 1.2 Black, Asian and minority ethnic students

Access: We have made considerable progressing in increasing the ethnic diversity of our UK cohort (rising from 7.2% in 13/14 to 10.9% in 17/18). The largest increase has been in Black or Black British

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students, who in 18/19 made up 17% of our BAME entrants. A further 39% were of mixed ethnicity, 38% were Asian or Asian British, and 6% Arab or other ethnic origin. We acknowledge the proportion of Black students is still low when viewed in a national context but as 7% of 18-19yr olds in the South West are BAME and 13% in the South East3 our progress is encouraging taking into account our main recruitment areas. Over the last two years we have expanded significantly our efforts increase BAME recruitment and specifically to work with BAME students who also meet WP criteria. We can see that these activities have made an impact and we continue to refine our approaches. We continue to work hard to increase our diversity and build on this trajectory which is reflected in PTA 4: Percentage of BAME entrants.

Non-continuation: The continuation gap for BAME students is better than the national average at 2ppt compared to 3ppt and is not statistically significant. However, this may be due to small numbers and is an area we will continue to monitor closely using new data dashboards being developed as part of an annual cycle of review.

Attainment: The differing experiences of BAME ethnic groups is most evident in attainment: there is a 20ppt gap for Black students achieving Good Honours (increasing from 10ppt in 13/14), compared to a 10ppt gap for Asian students (down from 15ppt in 13/14) and 5ppt for students from a Mixed BAME ethnic group (the same gap in 13/14). This reflects the national picture, where there is a 23ppt Black attainment gap and lesser gaps for Asian (11ppt) and Mixed (4ppt) ethnic groups. The target (PTS 3. Black student attainment gap v White – OfS KPM4) is focused on Black students where the gap is particularly pronounced. However, we recognise the evident Asian attainment gap and will continue to work on the overall BAME attainment gap to ensure that we address all areas of inequality. Internal analysis indicates that although figures vary due to small numbers, overall for both Asian and Black ethnic groups the gap is larger for men than women. In addition, the OfS dataset shows that the BAME attainment gap is twice as large for IMD Q1&2 students (17ppt) compared to Q3-5 (8ppt), which will help inform the design and delivery of our interventions. We are committed to making significant strides in reducing these gaps and learning from sector best practice and research in this crucial area.

Progression: Our BAME students enjoy better graduate outcomes then their white peers, including progression to further study. It is encouraging to see the progress which has been made compared with 12/13, when the gap was at 6ppt.

1.3 Mature students

Access: Our percentage of mature entrants has been relatively static over the last five years, ranging from a high of 6.2% in 14/15 to a low of 5.7% in 15/16. Internal figures indicate 18/19 will remain the same as 17/18 at 5.8%. This is below the sector average in 17/18 of 23.5% and is an area we have identified as a priority (PTA 5. Percentage of mature entrants). Recruitment varies across subjects and campuses. For example, there are a higher percentage of mature students in vocational courses such as Medicine and our Degree apprenticeships which are Exeter-based. We are aware of the challenges involved in increasing recruitment from under-represented groups in other areas such as the Humanities. Internal analysis has identified that mature students are much more likely to have qualifications other than recent A-levels, and our work here is particularly relevant in light of the national decline in mature students in higher education. For example, we are revising our Admissions and transition/induction policies and procedures to take into account the diversity of paths from which we draw our mature applicants. Mature students are more likely than their peers to have a disability, and over half of our mature entrants are from the South West. Non-continuation: Despite having good retention rates in comparison to the sector, we are very aware that our mature students are less likely than their peers to continue into the second year. The

3 2011 Census

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gap, although subject to small numbers, is statistically significant and has been sustained over the past three years, dropping slightly to 9ppt in 16/17. This gap combined with our desire to increase mature student access has informed our target PTS 2: Mature non-continuation gap. Attainment: The attainment gap for mature students has declined over the past two years to 13ppt from a high of 23ppt. It is no longer statistically significant, however the gap is longstanding, and remains significant at the national level (9.5ppt in 17/18) therefore this will continue to form part of our internal monitoring.

Progression: The percentage of both young and mature students entering graduate level destinations has increased year on year over the past five years, and we outperform the sector in this area. We are really encouraged to see that the gap between mature students and their peers has declined with 87% of mature students achieving graduate outcomes in 16/17 compared to 81.2% of young students.

1.4 Disabled students

Access: The percentage of our students declaring a disability has risen from 13.1% in 12/13 to 17.4% in 17/18, this is above the sector average. The largest grouping by impairment type is cognitive or learning difficulties (7.6% in 17/18), although the largest increase has been in those declaring a social or communication impairment or a mental health condition, which is congruent with the national picture. These shifts are accounted for in the structure and organisation of our wellbeing provision for students across the student lifecycle, especially at pre-entry. Internal figures show that the proportion of entrants who receive DSA is 5.8%, which is just over one-third of all those who declare a disability, compared to nearly half prior to changes in its scope. DSA is more common (more than 60% in receipt) for those who are Blind or visually impaired, have a social or communication impairment, or have two or more impairments. However, our support is not limited to those who receive DSA. Students with a disability are more likely than their peers to be mature. Further analytical work is planned in the short-term to increase our understanding of the intersection between disability, disability type and other characteristics, at each stage of the student lifecycle with the view of using this evidence to inform delivery of support. Non-continuation: Although our students presenting with a disability are still slightly less likely to continue into their second year of study, with a gap of 1ppt in 16/17 this is a reduction from 3ppt in 12/13, and only slightly higher than the sector average of 0.8ppt. Whilst numbers are small the gap is shown to be higher for those with mental health conditions, which we are addressing through our Wellbeing Services. Non-continuation has been similar or lower for those in receipt of DSA over the past four years.

Attainment: Our students with a disability are slightly less likely to achieve Good Honours. There is a 3ppt gap which is similar to the sector average, however it does represent an improvement in performance as it has declined from a high of 6ppt in 2014/15. Whilst not showing as significant at the University this is a national performance measure (OfS KPM 5) PTS 4: Disabled students attainment gap v non-disabled, which we aim to practically eradicate. The gap is largest and has increased over the past two years for those with cognitive or learning difficulties (4ppt). Although we already have in place a robust approach to developing and implementing Individual Learning Plans (ILPs), further research and collaborative work between Wellbeing and Teaching colleagues to understand the needs of students with differing disabilities will be a factor in addressing this gap.

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Progression: Students presenting with disability have good progression into graduate destinations, but there is a small gap when compared with their peers. The gap is larger for students with Mental Health conditions and we are keen to carry out further research to understand the issues they may face and how we can help address them. Whilst we outperform the sector for both students with and without disabilities entering graduate level destinations, further research is needed to inform practice to better support these students.

1.5 Care leavers

Access: We recruit a small number of care leavers each year and offer extensive provision and support including fee waivers, extended accommodation contracts and personalised support. We have carried out work to better understand the barriers faced by care leavers through the admissions process with the aim of widening access for this group. As part of a review of our policy and procedures we are assessing the definition we use with the aim of introducing a more inclusive definition for the start of this plan to allow us to support an optimum number of students with experience of care rather than only those entitled to fee waivers. We capture other institutional practices and contribute to policy discussions for this group via the NNECL national steering group and regional institutions group on which we sit.

Non-continuation: The University offers a generous package of support and in 2019 will be a signatory to the Care Leavers Covenant. Although in 17/18 all those in receipt of fee waivers did continue, this was based on a very small number and historically care leavers have been less likely than their peers to continue into the second year. We continue to evaluate impact.

Attainment: In the most recent three of the past five years a lower percentage of care leavers have achieved Good Honours than their peers but it is encouraging that this gap has steadily narrowed.

Progression: The numbers who graduate are extremely small, so it is difficult to draw any conclusions, however over the past three years all care leavers who have graduated have progressed onto graduate destinations. It is difficult due to small numbers to assign significance to trends; however internal data is indicative of lower rates of continuation and degree attainment. We continue to work to increase the access, success, and progression of the groups that care leavers intersect with as well as improving our direct provision of support.

1.6 Intersections of disadvantage

Many of our students face multiple indicators of disadvantage, and some indicators are more likely to be associated (such as ethnicity and deprivation, or age and disability). By continuing to investigate the intersections between participation, IMD, ethnicity, age, disability and income we can more effectively focus our outreach and internal transition support. For example, understanding that the BAME attainment gap intersects with gender and is related to other gaps for students from lower participation or deprived neighbourhoods.

The OfS dataset shows that gender is highly related to attainment – a lower percentage of male students achieve Good Hons (1st or 2.1), irrespective of POLAR or IMD. Analysis, using internal data, combining POLAR quintile, gender and ethnicity indicates ethnicity as the most influential factor: the lowest rates of Good Hons are for BAME male students from all quintiles. There are also attainment gaps for female BAME students from Q1 and 2. Whilst there are gaps for white male students compared to their female peers, there is no gap between males at Q1 or 5. This analysis is helping to inform our approaches to supporting attainment.

We recognise that whilst we understand some of the intersections there is still more work to do and we have found this approach helpful in refining our understanding. We note that although there is clear complementarity with the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, the national and University approach to Access and Participation does not include specific approaches around: sexual orientation, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity/paternity and religion and

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belief. However these characteristics sometimes form an important part of our analytical and practical considerations around a particular issue e.g. the safeguarding agenda, student mental health and work to protect and support religion and belief.

1.7 Other groups who experience barriers in higher education

We are working with carers and starting to collect data from entrants from 17/18 on students estranged from their families and from 20/21 for children from military families. Internal intelligence suggests the latter group could be quite a significant size which is why we will introduce a formal data collection process in time for this plan. Entrant data for people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and refugees is collected from UCAS and we are developing our understanding here.

2. Strategic aims and objectives

The University is committed to enabling social mobility through education. We aim to widen participation; raise attainment; contribute to a strong regional skills base; and bridge gaps in retention, progression and success to ensure our students enjoy the best possible outcomes at University and as graduates. Our strategy continues to be based on the following principles:

• Diversity, fair access and inclusivity • A whole student lifecycle approach • Collaboration and partnership • Evidence-based practice

2.1 Aims and objectives Our targets are designed to further our institutional ambitions around three strategic aims:

Strategic aims Objectives (to deliver the aims) Measured by: Targets and milestones

1. Improve access to the University of Exeter and work collaboratively within our region and to better understand and address barriers to social mobility

a. Support the attainment of school pupils, particularly at GCSE and level 3, to enable them to progress to higher education

b. Take a leading role within our region to build capacity, identify and address barriers, and work collaboratively on solutions

c. Widen and diversify our applicant pool across key student groups and optimise conversion

d. Encourage, support and prepare prospective students to enter higher education

PTA 1. Ratio of entrants who are from POLAR4 Q1&2 v Q4&5 (target 1:3 from 1:4.7) (linked to OfS KPM 2)

PTA 2. Ratio of entrants from the South West from POLAR4 Q1&2 v Q4&5 (target 1:1 from 1:1.5) (linked to OfS KPM 2)

PTA 3. Percentage of entrants from IMD 1&2 and state school (target 13% from 11%)

PTA 4. Percentage of BAME entrants (target 15% from 10.1%)

PTA 5. Percentage of mature entrants (target 8% from 5.8%)

2. Address the causes of observable gaps in success and progression for key groups

a. Minimise the observed gaps in non-continuation rates between key groups by 2030

b. Minimise the observed gaps in attainment and achievement of

PTS 1. POLAR4 Q1 non-continuation gap v Q5 (target 2.5ppt from 4ppt) (linked to OfS KPM 3)

PTS 2. Mature non-continuation gap v young (target 7.5ppt from 9ppt)

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graduate outcomes between key groups of students by 2030

PTS 3. Black students attainment gap v White (target 12ppt from 20ppt) (linked to OfS KPM 4)

PTS 4. Disabled students attainment gap v non-disabled (target 0.5ppt from 3ppt) (linked to OfS KPM 5)

PTP 1: Progression gap for students from the lowest household incomes (Access to Exeter bursary) v high income (target 1.5ppt from 3.1ppt)

3. Enable an inclusive university culture where all can fulfil their potential

Build on national research and expertise in this area to deliver visible change within the next five/ten years to underpin strategic aims 1 and 2. We will measure this aim by a university-wide framework which will align with the strategic measures within our forthcoming Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity strategy, to include:

• Meeting the non-continuation and success targets above • Meeting internal targets and KPIs relating to all key groups and students

with protected characteristics across the student life cycle • Achieving and sustaining key charter marks such as Athena SWAN, Race

Equality Chartermark and Mental Health mark • Qualitative feedback

2.2 Target groups Our objectives and targets span a variety of target groups across all stages of the student lifecycle. The OfS dataset has confirmed the trends we had ourselves identified in extensive internal analysis so we can be sure that we are targeting our efforts effectively. The groups identified are shown mapped to the relevant stages of the student lifecycle:

Access

Non-continuation

Success &

Progression

PTS 3: Black students attainment gap v White PTS 4: Disabled students attainment gap v non-disabled PTP 1: Progression gap for students from the lowest household incomes (Access to Exeter bursary) v high income

PTS 1: POLAR Q1 non-continuation gap v Q5 (Low participation Neighbourhoods) PTS 2: Mature non-continuation gap v young

PTA 1 and 2: POLAR4 students from Low Participation Neighbourhoods Q1&2 PTA 3: State School entrants from IMD Q1&2 PTA 4: Percentage of BAME entrants PTA 5: Percentage of mature entrants

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Some groups appear across the lifecycle more than once, such as mature students and BAME students, because our analysis has shown that these groups persistently under-perform in relation to their peers across the student lifecycle and the key indicators. 2.2.1 Commitment to care leavers and under-represented groups

We have had a package in place to attract and support care leavers for many years (aspects of which- such as our fee waiver- are sector leading) and we share and welcome the emphasis of the OfS in supporting students from other under-represented groups. This APP shows how we will incorporate proactive and substantial support at all stages of the lifecycle for all under-represented groups which span everything from capturing better data at entry (and improving our evidence base around emerging cohorts such as military families, travellers and asylum seekers); supporting transition via our tailored conference programme; and ensuring we can support student needs through appropriate packages of financial support (such as our estranged students and student carers bursaries) and other work to be piloted and evaluated such as a community initiative. We are also active participants and signatories of the Stand Alone Pledge.

For this APP, we intend to channel our strategic focus and resources for care leavers through our comprehensive and sector-leading Care Leaver Covenant (see link via our Care Leavers web pages) which is designed to ensure we are fully compliant- and where possible go beyond- the quality framework being piloted by NNECL (for which we have been a pilot institution). As well as maintaining excellent local links across Devon and Cornwall to run focused outreach activities, we continue to learn from sector best practice around care leavers, leading and contributing to sector developments through our roles on the NNECL national steering group and by being one of eight pilot institutions for the new NNECL quality mark.

2.2.2 Postgraduate students

We are keen to progress work to further understand the profile of our postgraduate taught and research population to understand if some of the characteristics and trends we see in our undergraduate population are perpetuated. We note that Research Councils are now taking a more active interest in the social mobility aspects of research, and that research programme applications are including a specific section asking how the University will ensure they widen participation with regards to intake if successful, for example. We are supportive of such moves and will continue to pursue this emerging issue. We would welcome OfS support and research to help progress this agenda e.g. through research, datasets and opportunities to align policy initiatives with other bodies such as Research England.

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ach

es a

cross th

e stu

de

nt life

cycle. O

ur A

ccess a

nd

Pa

rticipa

tion

Pla

n h

as b

ee

n d

eve

lop

ed

at th

e sa

me

time

as o

ur n

ew

Ed

uca

tion

Stra

teg

y; an

d d

urin

g th

e e

arly sta

ge

s of w

ork to

info

rm o

ur E

qu

ality, D

iversity

an

d In

clusio

n S

trate

gy a

nd

We

llbe

ing

Actio

n P

lan

; wh

ich w

ill he

lp a

lign

prio

rities a

nd

strate

gic a

pp

roa

che

s an

d in

frastru

cture

. We

are

fully a

wa

re th

at

me

ssag

ing

with

in stra

teg

y do

cum

en

ts is imp

orta

nt, b

ut w

ha

t ma

tters m

ost is h

ow

tho

se p

lan

s are

tran

slate

d o

pe

ratio

na

lly to a

ffect ch

an

ge

on

the

gro

un

d

to th

e b

en

efit o

f stud

en

ts. We

will d

eve

lop

rob

ust o

pe

ratio

na

l stran

ds w

ith cle

ar lin

es o

f acco

un

tab

ility, bu

dg

etin

g, stra

teg

ic dire

ction

an

d re

po

rting

, to

en

sure

tha

t the

se h

igh

ly com

ple

x an

d in

ter-lin

ked

serie

s of a

ction

s are

ach

ieve

d su

ccessfu

lly an

d co

llab

ora

tively.

Measure

Current and future provision

Alignment of

strategic plans O

ur A

ccess a

nd

Pa

rticipa

tion

Pla

n h

as b

ee

n d

eve

lop

ed

at th

e sa

me

time

as o

ur n

ew

Ed

uca

tion

Stra

teg

y (20

20

); Eq

ua

lity, Dive

rsity an

d

Inclu

sion

Stra

teg

y (20

19

); an

d W

ellb

ein

g A

ction

Pla

n (2

01

9) w

hich

will h

elp

alig

n p

rioritie

s an

d stra

teg

ic ap

pro

ach

es. In

volvin

g

exte

nsive

con

sulta

tion

with

stud

en

ts an

d sta

ff an

d d

raw

ing

on

the

wo

rk of th

e P

rovo

st Co

mm

ission

to a

dd

ress in

clusivity w

ithin

ou

r

stud

en

t an

d o

rga

nisa

tion

al stru

cture

, this p

lan

nin

g fra

me

wo

rk will b

e u

nd

erp

inn

ed

by a

rob

ust o

pe

ratio

na

l pla

n a

nd

mo

nito

red

thro

ug

h th

e re

leva

nt co

mm

ittee

s rep

ortin

g to

ou

r Vice

Ch

an

cello

r’s Exe

cutive

Gro

up

, Co

un

cil an

d S

en

ate

, with

clea

r acco

un

tab

ility.

Data, business intelligence and research are

We

con

tinu

e to

ma

ke e

xcelle

nt p

rog

ress in

bu

ildin

g a

rob

ust e

vide

nce

fram

ew

ork to

en

ab

le u

s to m

on

itor p

erfo

rma

nce

an

d in

form

strate

gic d

ecisio

n m

akin

g. O

ur W

P, E

qu

ality, D

iversity a

nd

Inclu

sivity (ED

I) an

d B

usin

ess In

tellig

en

ce (B

I) tea

ms h

ave

be

en

wo

rking

join

tly to in

teg

rate

da

ta ca

ptu

re, m

on

itorin

g a

nd

da

shb

oa

rds th

rou

gh

ou

r bu

sine

ss inte

llige

nce

system

. Th

ese

pe

rform

an

ce

4 F

ram

ew

ork

for stu

de

nt a

ccess, re

ten

tion

, atta

inm

en

t an

d p

rog

ressio

n in

hig

he

r ed

uca

tion

, Th

e H

igh

er E

du

catio

n A

cad

em

y, 2

01

5

5 Un

de

rstan

din

g a

wh

ole

institu

tion

ap

pro

ach

to h

igh

er e

du

catio

n, O

ffice fo

r Fa

ir Acce

ss, 20

17

1

2

used to inform

decision making

da

shb

oa

rds w

ill un

de

rpin

ou

r op

era

tion

al p

lan

s an

d g

ove

rna

nce

. Wo

rking

with

colle

ag

ue

s in R

eg

istry, we

will co

ntin

ue

to e

xten

d th

e

info

rma

tion

we

cap

ture

ab

ou

t ou

r stud

en

ts wh

en

the

y en

rol, so

we

can

be

tter m

on

itor p

erfo

rma

nce

an

d d

elive

r targ

ete

d

inte

rven

tion

s to ke

y stud

en

t gro

up

s inclu

din

g th

ose

with

pro

tecte

d ch

ara

cteristics a

nd

un

de

r-rep

rese

nte

d g

rou

ps. W

e w

ill also

see

k to

alig

n o

ur d

ash

bo

ard

s an

d re

po

rting

with

ou

r TE

F, A

nn

ua

l Stu

de

nt E

xpe

rien

ce R

evie

w (A

SE

R) a

nd

Lea

rnin

g A

na

lytics rep

ortin

g

fram

ew

ork, to

en

sure

we

ha

ve a

com

pre

he

nsive

pictu

re o

f stud

en

t exp

erie

nce

to a

gra

nu

lar le

vel.

Whole life cycle

approach A

sign

ifican

t am

ou

nt o

f wo

rk ha

s be

en

carrie

d o

ut o

ver th

e la

st two

yea

rs to e

nsu

re w

e p

rovid

e h

olistic su

pp

ort to

stud

en

ts at th

e

vario

us sta

ge

s of th

eir jo

urn

ey in

to a

nd

thro

ug

h h

igh

er e

du

catio

n a

nd

this w

ill con

tinu

e a

nd

be

com

e m

ore

rob

ust d

urin

g th

e d

ura

tion

of th

is pla

n. F

ollo

win

g a

system

atic re

view

of p

rovisio

n fo

r stud

en

ts with

dive

rse ch

ara

cteristics, co

nsid

era

ble

step

s ha

ve b

ee

n ta

ken

to jo

in u

p p

rovisio

n a

cross te

am

s; fill ga

ps in

sup

po

rt (e.g

. for e

stran

ge

d stu

de

nt a

nd

care

rs); en

ha

nce

ou

r an

alytica

l cap

ab

ilities a

nd

use

of d

ata

; imp

rove

go

vern

an

ce a

nd

sha

re in

form

atio

n syste

ma

tically w

ithin

aca

de

mic co

lleg

es a

nd

pro

fessio

na

l service

s. Th

is is

drive

n via

ou

r go

vern

an

ce stru

cture

for so

cial m

ob

ility wh

ich in

clud

es cro

ss-Un

iversity re

pre

sen

tatio

n, fa

culty g

rou

ps, a

nd

a p

lan

nin

g

mo

de

l ad

dre

ssing

all sta

ge

s of th

e stu

de

nt life

cycle. E

xam

ple

s of o

ur d

eve

lop

ing

ap

pro

ach

es in

clud

e e

mb

ed

din

g te

ach

ing

en

richm

en

t,

tuto

ring

, pe

er m

en

torin

g, skills d

eve

lop

me

nt, tra

nsitio

n, w

ellb

ein

g a

nd

em

plo

yab

ility with

in o

utre

ach

an

d fa

ir acce

ss; de

velo

pm

en

t of

ou

r ind

uctio

n a

nd

tran

sition

pro

gra

mm

es; jo

int in

itiative

s be

twe

en

ou

r Ce

ntre

for S

ocia

l Mo

bility a

nd

Ed

uca

tion

Incu

ba

tor to

rese

arch

an

d d

issem

ina

te g

oo

d p

ractice

rela

ting

to te

ach

ing

pra

ctice, th

e cu

rriculu

m, co

nte

xtua

l offe

r ma

king

, an

d tra

nsitio

n; a

nd

join

t

de

velo

pm

en

t /exe

cutio

n o

f initia

tives a

cross te

am

s to su

pp

ort sp

ecific stu

de

nt g

rou

ps a

cross a

ll stag

es (e

.g. m

atu

re, e

stran

ge

d, ca

rers

an

d ca

re le

ave

rs).

Cross-university contribution to W

P

We

ha

ve a

ne

two

rk of W

P sp

ecia

lists an

d ch

am

pio

ns a

cross th

e U

nive

rsity wh

o m

ee

t reg

ula

rly with

in o

ur g

ove

rna

nce

structu

res a

nd

pro

ject te

am

s, bu

t also

mo

re in

form

ally th

rou

gh

the

Ce

ntre

for S

ocia

l Mo

bility a

nd

on

a sp

on

tan

eo

us b

asis to

sha

re in

form

atio

n a

nd

sup

po

rt. We

ha

ve sp

ecific W

P ro

les w

ithin

recru

itme

nt, a

cad

em

ic skills, we

llbe

ing

, an

d e

mp

loya

bility te

am

s an

d w

ithin

ou

r aca

de

mic

facu

lties. T

his n

etw

ork o

f role

s an

d su

pp

ort is e

ver-g

row

ing

as w

e e

xpa

nd

ou

r circle o

f info

rma

l WP

cha

mp

ion

s acro

ss all a

rea

s an

d

cam

pu

ses w

ithin

the

Un

iversity. T

rain

ing

an

d su

pp

ort fo

r staff a

nd

stud

en

ts is also

exp

an

din

g w

ith se

min

ars, n

etw

orkin

g a

nd

rese

arch

eve

nts ru

n b

y the

Ce

ntre

, Ed

uca

tion

Incu

ba

tor a

nd

Gra

du

ate

Sch

oo

l of E

du

catio

n. Lin

king

up

with

ou

r Q-S

tep

Ce

ntre

, Co

lleg

e te

am

s

an

d R

ese

arch

Dire

ctora

te, w

e a

re a

lso d

eve

lop

ing

a ra

ng

e o

f ap

pro

ach

es to

be

tter e

mb

ed

wid

en

ing

pa

rticipa

tion

with

in re

sea

rch e

.g.

via o

ur a

cad

em

ic an

d P

hD

train

ing

/de

velo

pm

en

t; rese

arch

pro

jects, d

issem

ina

tion

of re

sults a

nd

imp

act; a

nd

the

crea

tion

of re

sea

rch-

ba

sed

pla

cem

en

ts for p

up

ils/stud

en

ts from

WP

gro

up

s. Re

cog

nitio

n o

f WP

is bu

ilt in to

system

s inclu

din

g o

ur w

ork a

lloca

tion

an

d sta

ff

rew

ard

system

s.

Involvement of

students and alum

ni

We

take

prid

e in

the

stron

g a

nd

colla

bo

rative

rela

tion

ship

s we

ha

ve w

ith o

ur stu

de

nts. O

ur S

tud

en

t Gu

ild a

nd

the

Fa

lmo

uth

an

d E

xete

r

Stu

de

nts’ U

nio

n a

re in

volve

d in

the

de

velo

pm

en

t of th

is pla

n, a

re a

ctive m

em

be

rs of o

ur so

cial m

ob

ility go

vern

an

ce stru

cture

an

d

ha

ve fa

cilitate

d co

nsu

ltatio

n to

sup

po

rt this im

po

rtan

t ag

en

da

. Ou

r stud

en

ts are

also

invo

lved

in th

e co

-crea

tion

of re

sea

rch a

nd

initia

tives to

sup

po

rt wid

en

ing

pa

rticipa

tion

e.g

. thro

ug

h o

ur E

du

catio

n In

cub

ato

r; Ce

ntre

for S

ocia

l Mo

bility; E

du

catio

n P

artn

ers;

Stu

de

nts a

s Ch

an

ge

Ag

en

ts an

d sta

ff/stud

en

t liaiso

n co

mm

ittee

s. Th

ey p

articip

ate

in o

ur a

nn

ua

l So

cial M

ob

ility Co

nfe

ren

ce a

nd

are

1

3

mo

re w

ide

ly invo

lved

in o

ur E

DI a

nd

Ed

uca

tion

structu

res. W

e a

lso co

ntin

ue

to stre

ng

the

n re

latio

nsh

ips w

ith o

ur a

lum

ni to

sup

po

rt

wid

en

ing

pa

rticipa

tion

, thro

ug

h th

e d

on

atio

n o

f time

/exp

ertise

; care

er m

en

torin

g; w

ork p

lace

me

nts a

nd

fun

din

g.

Finance and resources

Fin

an

ce a

nd

reso

urce

s to su

pp

ort W

P a

re a

lloca

ted

ba

sed

on

ou

r imp

lem

en

tatio

n p

lan

an

d m

on

itore

d th

rou

gh

ou

r socia

l mo

bility

go

vern

an

ce stru

cture

. Th

is ap

pro

ach

pro

vide

s line

of sig

ht o

ver e

xpe

nd

iture

an

d sta

ffing

to e

na

ble

reso

urce

s to b

e o

ptim

ised

for th

e

be

ne

fit ou

r stud

en

ts.

3.2 Access m

easures

Acce

ss rem

ain

s the

big

ge

st prio

rity for th

e u

nive

rsity in te

rms o

f closin

g g

ap

s in d

isad

van

tag

e a

nd

un

de

r-rep

rese

nta

tion

. Th

is is also

the

are

a o

ver w

hich

we

ha

ve le

ast co

ntro

l, is mo

st vuln

era

ble

to ch

an

ge

s in p

olicy a

nd

ma

rket fo

rces, a

nd

in w

hich

a m

ultip

licity of co

ntrib

uto

ry facto

rs affe

ct the

ou

tcom

es o

f

ind

ividu

al stu

de

nts lo

ng

be

fore

the

y start th

eir first u

nive

rsity ap

plica

tion

. Th

is is no

t an

excu

se fo

r ina

ction

– w

e a

re a

bso

lute

ly de

dica

ted

to im

pro

vem

en

t -

bu

t it is imp

orta

nt to

ackn

ow

led

ge

the

com

ple

xities w

e fa

ce a

s an

institu

tion

at th

e e

nd

of th

e stu

de

nts’ jo

urn

ey th

rou

gh

the

ed

uca

tion

al syste

m. H

ow

eve

r

bo

ld h

igh

tariff in

stitutio

ns b

eco

me

in th

eir a

dm

ission

s pra

ctices, th

is alo

ne

is no

t sufficie

nt to

ma

teria

lly red

ress th

e g

ap

s in so

cial d

isad

van

tag

e w

itho

ut a

red

uctio

n in

ga

ps b

etw

ee

n ke

y gro

up

s wh

en

it com

es to

atta

inm

en

t at G

CS

E. W

e a

lrea

dy w

ork ve

ry active

ly with

in o

ur re

gio

n to

sup

po

rt loca

l scho

ols to

imp

rove

the

ou

tcom

es o

f pu

pils –

ind

ee

d 3

5.1

% o

f ou

r So

uth

We

st en

tran

ts are

PO

LAR

4 Q

1/2

com

pa

red

with

13

.5%

of o

ur e

ntra

nts fro

m e

lsew

he

re - b

ut

we

reco

gn

ise th

ere

is mo

re to

do

an

d b

ette

r join

ing

up

acro

ss ou

r reg

ion

can

on

ly he

lp to

mu

ltiply im

pa

ct.

Th

is pla

n h

as b

ee

n w

ritten

at a

time

of u

nce

rtain

ty ab

ou

t the

futu

re o

f NC

OP

an

d th

e ro

le o

f the

Ou

trea

ch H

ub

. We

are

com

mitte

d to

an

d su

pp

ort b

oth

the

se re

gio

na

l initia

tives, a

nd

ha

ve co

nsid

ere

d h

ow

we

can

use

ou

r exp

ertise

an

d re

sou

rces to

sup

po

rt this p

artn

ersh

ip a

t the

sam

e tim

e a

s be

ing

am

bitio

us

ab

ou

t the

role

we

can

take

with

in th

e re

gio

n to

en

ha

nce

cap

acity in

a w

ay w

hich

is susta

ina

ble

, give

n th

e like

liho

od

tha

t bo

th th

ese

initia

tives m

ay n

ot b

e in

pla

ce fo

r a su

bsta

ntia

l pe

riod

of tim

e co

vere

d b

y this p

lan

. We

will th

ere

fore

see

k to build capacity w

ithin our region by in

crea

sing

sign

ifican

tly ou

r

activitie

s to u

nd

ersta

nd

the

facto

rs affe

cting

socia

l mo

bility in

ou

r are

a a

nd

ho

w th

ese

ba

rriers m

igh

t be

ove

rcom

e a

nd

by cre

atin

g a

reg

ion

al tra

inin

g h

ub

thro

ug

h th

e C

en

tre fo

r So

cial M

ob

ility for re

gio

na

l pra

ctition

ers to

incre

ase

kno

wle

dg

e a

nd

skills rela

ting

to e

vide

nce

-ba

sed

pra

ctice a

nd

eva

lua

tion

. We

will a

lso w

ork w

ith o

ur p

artn

ers in

the

So

uth

We

st Institu

te o

f Te

chn

olo

gy, to

bu

ild skills a

nd

reg

ion

al e

xpe

rtise in

dig

ital, e

ng

ine

erin

g a

nd

ma

nu

factu

ring

tech

no

log

ies. T

his w

ill invo

lve a

pa

rticula

r focu

s on

the

de

velo

pm

en

t of le

vel 4

qu

alifica

tion

s as p

art o

f a p

rog

ressio

n fra

me

wo

rk inclu

din

g T

-leve

ls an

d

De

gre

e A

pp

ren

ticesh

ips. A

key stra

teg

ic aim

of th

e In

stitute

will b

e to

incre

ase

pa

rticipa

tion

an

d a

chie

vem

en

t by u

nd

er-re

pre

sen

ted

an

d d

isad

van

tag

ed

gro

up

s. Wh

ile n

ot d

elive

red

dire

ctly thro

ug

h th

is pla

n, th

is an

d in

itiative

s such

as th

e skills e

scala

tor to

incre

ase

cap

acity in

da

ta a

na

lytics acro

ss the

reg

ion

,

are

rele

van

t to th

e b

roa

de

r socia

l mo

bility a

ge

nd

a.

An

alysis su

gg

ests m

ost o

f the

socio

-eco

no

mic g

ap

in H

E p

articip

atio

n in

En

gla

nd

can

be

exp

lain

ed

by th

e fa

ct tha

t po

ore

r stud

en

ts ha

ve lo

we

r leve

ls of

atta

inm

en

t at G

CS

E a

nd

Ke

y Sta

ge

5. W

e se

e th

is ga

p p

erp

etu

ate

d w

ithin

ou

r ow

n fa

ir acce

ss pro

gra

mm

es, w

hich

exp

erie

nce

attritio

n b

etw

ee

n p

re a

nd

po

st-16

pro

gre

ssion

as p

up

ils fail to

ach

ieve

ou

r req

uire

me

nts re

latin

g to

GC

SE

ma

ths a

nd

En

glish

. Th

e U

nive

rsity ha

s be

en

pro

gre

ssive in

its invo

lvem

en

t in

scho

ol sp

on

sorsh

ip a

nd

go

vern

an

ce a

s a m

ea

ns to

en

cou

rag

e a

nd

sup

po

rt hig

h sta

nd

ard

s of p

erfo

rma

nce

with

in th

e re

gio

n. W

e a

re ke

en

to e

xplo

re h

ow

we

can

ha

rne

ss the

exp

ertise

of th

e E

xete

r Ma

the

ma

tics Sch

oo

l an

d w

ork co

llab

ora

tively to

sup

po

rt ma

the

ma

tics atta

inm

en

t at G

CS

E m

ore

wid

ely to

the

1

4

be

ne

fit of a

gre

ate

r volu

me

of stu

de

nts. In

ad

ditio

n to

the

me

asu

res d

escrib

ed

, it is imp

orta

nt to

ackn

ow

led

ge

the

Un

iversity’s w

ide

r con

tribu

tion

to

sup

po

rting

scho

ols b

oth

reg

ion

ally a

nd

na

tion

ally e

.g. d

elive

ring

exce

llen

t stan

da

rds o

f initia

l tea

che

r train

ing

an

d co

ntin

uo

us p

rofe

ssion

al d

eve

lop

me

nt in

tea

chin

g a

nd

scho

ols’ le

ad

ersh

ip via

ou

r Gra

du

ate

Sch

oo

l for E

du

catio

n; tra

nsla

tion

al re

sea

rch to

sup

po

rt tea

chin

g e

xcelle

nce

, scho

ol le

ad

ersh

ip a

nd

inclu

sion

; an

d th

e b

roa

de

r invo

lvem

en

t of o

ur sta

ff in th

e g

ove

rna

nce

of lo

cal sch

oo

ls an

d co

mm

un

ity ou

trea

ch.

We

reco

gn

ise w

e ca

n h

ave

very little

imp

act o

n p

up

il atta

inm

en

t thro

ug

h o

ur o

wn

ag

en

cy alo

ne

, in w

hich

rep

etitive

con

tact w

ith p

up

ils is limite

d to

at m

ost

a h

an

dfu

l of in

terve

ntio

ns e

ach

yea

r. We

ha

ve p

ilote

d va

riou

s ap

pro

ach

es to

pu

pil su

pp

ort b

ut th

e e

vide

nce

-ba

se fo

r the

ir effica

cy is varia

ble

an

d, in

an

y

eve

nt, th

ese

ap

pro

ach

es a

re sim

ply n

ot sca

lab

le. W

e w

ill the

refo

re fo

cus o

n a

) supporting those agencies most able to im

prove pupil attainment via

go

vern

an

ce, sp

on

sorsh

ip, re

sea

rch a

nd

join

t wo

rking

; b) o

ptim

ising

ou

r ow

n o

utre

ach

with

pu

pils to

sup

po

rt atta

inm

en

t with

a focus on num

eracy, teaching enrichm

ent and essential skills with

in a

pro

gre

ssion

fram

ew

ork.

Th

e sig

nifica

nt ch

an

ge

s we

ha

ve m

ad

e to

ou

r fair a

ccess p

rovisio

n h

ave

, with

in a

sho

rt time

spa

n, im

pro

ved

sign

ifican

tly pro

gre

ssion

to H

E a

nd

the

Un

iversity o

f Exe

ter a

mo

ng

st pa

rticipa

nts. F

or e

xam

ple

, we

ha

ve in

crea

sed

pro

gre

ssion

from

the

Exe

ter S

cho

lars p

rog

ram

me

6 to u

nd

erg

rad

ua

te stu

dy h

ere

by a

rou

nd

25

% p

erce

nt w

ithin

a ye

ar; w

hile

wid

er a

pp

licatio

n ra

tes to

un

iversity is a

t 90

% fo

r ma

le p

articip

an

ts com

pa

red

to th

e n

atio

na

l ave

rag

e o

f 31

.8%

.

We

ha

ve ro

bu

st eva

lua

tion

in p

lace

an

d a

re co

ntin

uin

g to

imp

rove

the

pro

gra

mm

e a

dd

ressin

g issu

es su

ch a

s pre

-16

pro

gre

ssion

, atta

inm

en

t, esse

ntia

l skills

an

d re

silien

ce, to

ach

ieve

gre

ate

r imp

act. W

he

n ta

king

into

acco

un

t all th

e co

nsid

era

ble

acce

ss an

d o

utre

ach

wo

rk imp

lem

en

ted

by th

e u

nive

rsity, it is

Exe

ter S

cho

lars w

hich

ha

s the

stron

ge

st evid

en

ce-b

ase

for su

ccess a

nd

truly su

pp

orts p

up

ils from

cha

llen

gin

g so

cio-e

con

om

ic ba

ckgro

un

ds. W

e w

ill improve

and expand Exeter Scholars in o

rde

r to b

uild

on

the

sign

ifican

t ga

ins a

lrea

dy m

ad

e, w

ith a

fresh

focu

s on

pre

-16

pro

vision

an

d p

up

il atta

inm

en

t.

We

ha

ve a

go

od

evid

en

ce-b

ase

tha

t ou

r colla

bo

rative

pro

gra

mm

es w

ith R

ea

lising

Op

po

rtun

ities a

nd

the

Su

tton

Tru

st, Pa

thw

ays to

Law

, are

tran

sform

ative

in a

ffectin

g stu

de

nt kn

ow

led

ge

, be

ha

viou

rs an

d o

utco

me

s. We

rem

ain

com

mitte

d to

the

se in

itiative

s an

d se

ek to

wo

rk colla

bo

rative

ly with

the

se a

nd

oth

er

pa

rtne

rs du

ring

the

life o

f this p

lan

, wh

ilst also

ackn

ow

led

gin

g th

at th

ese

initia

tives co

ntrib

ute

to a

wid

er p

oo

l of stu

de

nts p

rog

ressin

g to

hig

he

r ed

uca

tion

ge

ne

rally, ra

the

r tha

n to

the

Un

iversity o

f Exe

ter sp

ecifica

lly. Likew

ise, w

e re

ma

in th

e m

ost a

ctive co

ntrib

uto

r to o

ur lo

cal N

CO

P, N

ext S

tep

s So

uth

We

st,

alth

ou

gh

du

e to

the

sho

rt time

-spa

n o

f this in

itiative

, we

ha

ve ye

t to se

e e

vide

nce

it ha

s be

en

succe

ssful in

incre

asin

g th

e vo

lum

e o

f Q1

stud

en

ts from

the

reg

ion

en

terin

g H

E. W

e w

ill also

con

tribu

te a

ctively to

the

ne

w O

utre

ach

Hu

b, a

ltho

ug

h a

ga

in, w

e h

ave

no

assu

ran

ces a

bo

ut th

e fu

ture

an

d in

ten

de

d im

pa

ct

of th

e in

itiative

at th

e tim

e o

f writin

g. H

ow

eve

r we

con

tinu

e to

see

the

oth

er b

en

efits o

f reg

ion

al co

llab

ora

tion

esp

ecia

lly in le

arn

ing

from

the

exp

erie

nce

s

of th

e b

rea

dth

of typ

es o

f institu

tion

s in th

e la

rge

r SW

reg

ion

; join

ing

up

effe

ctively w

ith th

e LE

Ps in

the

reg

ion

; care

ers p

rovisio

n; a

nd

reg

ion

al skills

pla

nn

ing

wh

ich w

e w

ou

ld h

op

e to

reta

in o

ver a

nd

be

yon

d th

e d

ura

tion

of th

is pla

n. Collaboration is identified as a key strategic m

easure, but the nature of this collaboration is likely to change during the life cycle of this plan. T

he

pa

rtne

rship

s de

scribe

d a

re th

ere

fore

ind

icative

of o

ur co

mm

itme

nt, b

ut m

ay

be

fluid

.

6 h

ttps://w

ww

.exe

ter.a

c.uk

/exe

tersch

ola

rs/

1

5

We

ha

ve so

me

evid

en

ce to

sho

w o

ur E

xete

r Links p

artn

ersh

ips w

ith lo

cal sch

oo

ls ha

ve so

me

imp

act o

n p

rog

ressio

n to

stud

y at th

e U

nive

rsity, bu

t we

ne

ed

a m

ore

rob

ust e

vide

nce

ba

se to

un

de

rstan

d w

hich

ele

me

nts o

f this a

pp

roa

ch a

re h

avin

g m

ost im

pa

ct. We

inte

nd

to im

pro

ve o

ur e

vide

nce

ba

se, ch

an

ge

ou

r

mo

de

l to im

pro

ve e

ng

ag

em

en

t from

scho

ols, a

nd

en

ha

nce

pro

vision

to m

ee

t join

t ou

tcom

es, p

articu

larly re

latin

g to

pu

pil a

ttain

me

nt. W

e p

lan

a national

Educational Partnership scheme

with

key sch

oo

ls, colle

ge

s an

d o

rga

nisa

tion

s bo

th w

ithin

an

d o

utsid

e o

ur re

gio

n to

secu

re e

ng

ag

em

en

t with

in a

pro

gre

ssive fra

me

wo

rk, wh

ile su

pp

ortin

g b

oth

pro

spe

ctive stu

de

nts a

nd

staff in

a w

ay w

hich

me

ets jo

intly a

gre

ed

ob

jective

s.

Irresp

ective

of th

e su

ccess o

f the

initia

tives o

utlin

ed

, we

will n

ot a

chie

ve d

iversity w

ithin

in o

ur o

wn

un

de

rgra

du

ate

po

pu

latio

n u

nle

ss pro

spe

ctive stu

de

nts

pe

rceive

ou

r Un

iversity a

s a via

ble

op

tion

for th

em

an

d a

s a p

lace

of le

arn

ing

wh

ere

the

y will b

elo

ng

an

d fe

el w

elco

me

. We

kno

w fro

m o

ur o

wn

rese

arch

tha

t con

fide

nce

leve

ls am

on

gst sta

te sch

oo

l pu

pils, a

nd

esp

ecia

lly tho

se m

ee

ting

WP

criteria

, are

low

er th

an

the

ir pe

ers a

nd

tha

t a re

sea

rch in

ten

sive

un

iversity like

ou

rs ma

y simp

ly no

t be

a co

nsid

era

tion

, de

spite

the

ir po

ten

tial to

succe

ed

. Ou

r ap

pro

ach

to co

nte

xtua

lised

ad

missio

ns h

as b

ee

n su

ccessfu

l in

imp

rovin

g a

ccess fo

r stud

en

ts from

LPN

Q1

an

d in

tern

al a

na

lysis ind

icate

s tha

t stud

en

ts rece

iving

con

textu

alise

d o

ffers a

chie

ve g

oo

d g

rad

es a

nd

gra

du

ate

ou

tcom

es. W

e a

lso re

cog

nise

tha

t reg

ard

less o

f ou

r ad

missio

ns p

olicy, u

nle

ss a su

fficien

t volu

me

of u

nd

er-re

pre

sen

ted

stud

en

ts cho

ose

us a

s a via

ble

op

tion

the

n w

e w

ill no

t ach

ieve

the

leve

ls of d

iversity w

e se

ek. W

e w

ill the

refo

re fo

cus o

ur U

K re

cruitm

en

t activitie

s aro

un

d fo

ur m

ain

stran

ds: a

) portfolio developm

ent to provide flexibility and student choice; b

) dive

rsificatio

n o

f ou

r ma

rketin

g a

nd

com

mu

nica

tion

s to position the U

niversity as an accessible choice

; c) reducing obstacles in our admissions process via

offe

r ma

king

an

d re

late

d su

pp

ort; d

) conversion and transition a

ctivities.

Th

e stra

teg

ic me

asu

res d

escrib

ed

focu

s on

tho

se a

ctivities id

en

tified

to sp

ecifica

lly ad

dre

ss ob

serva

ble

ga

ps re

latin

g to

core

gro

up

s an

d a

re u

nd

erp

inn

ed

by

me

asu

res re

latin

g to

bu

ildin

g a

n in

clusive

cultu

re. M

ore

de

tails a

bo

ut in

ten

de

d m

ea

sure

s an

d re

late

d a

ctivities a

re in

clud

ed

in th

e ta

ble

s be

low

wh

ich w

e

ha

ve a

ttem

pte

d to

pre

sen

t with

in a

the

ory o

f cha

ng

e fra

me

wo

rk. It sho

uld

be

no

ted

tha

t som

e a

ctivities m

ay ch

an

ge

, info

rme

d b

y rese

arch

an

d e

valu

atio

n.

1

6

3.1.1 O

bjective 1a: Support the attainment of school pupils, particularly at G

CSE and level 3, to enable them to progress to higher education

Objective 1b: Take a leading role w

ithin our region to build capacity, identify and address barriers, and work creatively on solutions

Strategic aim

Barriers (underpinning research and assum

ptions)

Planned activities to deliver (program

mes of w

ork) Evaluation m

ethodology Activity outputs

Anticipated outcomes

(linked to targets: PTA1; PTA2; PTA2)

Share and learn

1. Improve access to the University of Exeter and work collaboratively within our region and to better understand and address barriers to social mobility

An

alysis su

gg

ests m

ost

of th

e so

cio-e

con

om

ic

ga

p in

HE

pa

rticipa

tion

in E

ng

lan

d ca

n b

e

exp

lain

ed

by th

e fa

ct

tha

t po

ore

r stud

en

ts

ha

ve lo

we

r leve

ls of

atta

inm

en

t at G

CSE

an

d

Ke

y Stag

e 5

7

Re

cen

t an

alysis b

y the

Ru

ssell G

rou

p h

as

sho

wn

the

po

ol o

f

PO

LAR

LPN

Q1

stud

en

ts

ach

ievin

g typ

ical e

ntry

gra

de

s for h

igh

tariff

institu

tion

s is just 6

%

na

tion

wid

e.

Esse

ntia

l life skills su

ch

as co

nfid

en

ce,

mo

tivatio

n, re

silien

ce

an

d co

mm

un

icatio

n a

re

asso

ciate

d w

ith b

ette

r

aca

de

mic o

utco

me

s

1. Build regional capacity

a.

Wo

rk with

reg

ion

al p

artn

ers to

be

tter u

nd

ersta

nd

an

d

ad

dre

ss the

con

tribu

tory fa

ctors o

f socia

l mo

bility

with

in th

e re

gio

n, d

raw

ing

on

exp

ertise

of o

ur C

en

tre

for So

cial M

ob

ility.

b.

De

velo

p a

‘reg

ion

al d

eve

lop

me

nt a

nd

kno

wle

dg

e

exch

an

ge

hu

b’ fo

r pra

ctition

ers a

nd

oth

er

stake

ho

lde

rs via o

ur C

en

tre fo

r Socia

l Mo

bility.

c. E

xplo

re p

artn

ersh

ip w

ith E

xete

r Ma

the

ma

tics Scho

ol

to d

elive

r join

t ou

trea

ch fo

r stud

en

ts me

etin

g W

P

criteria

in m

ath

em

atics w

ith a

focu

s on

GC

SE

d.

Exp

lore

op

po

rtun

ities to

wo

rk with

reg

ion

al p

artn

ers

an

d m

ajo

r cha

rities to

de

velo

p a

coo

rdin

ate

d

ap

pro

ach

for so

cial m

ob

ility for th

e re

gio

n, in

clud

ing

pilo

ting

ap

pro

ach

es to

acce

ss.

Eva

lua

tion

will b

e b

uilt in

to

a co

llab

ora

tive re

sea

rch

pro

ject fro

m th

e o

utse

t (a).

Ligh

t tou

ch e

valu

atio

n via

stake

ho

lde

r con

sulta

tion

(b).

Spe

cific eva

lua

tion

me

asu

res a

nd

/or re

sea

rch

will b

e b

uilt in

to a

ny n

ew

initia

tive fro

m th

e o

utse

t as

pe

r ou

r eva

lua

tion

strate

gy

actio

n p

lan

, ap

pro

pria

te to

the

leve

l of in

vestm

en

t (c,

d).

Form

colla

bo

rative

pa

rtne

rship

an

d a

gre

ed

fram

ew

ork fo

r reg

ion

al

rese

arch

, with

rela

ted

pro

gra

mm

e o

f testin

g

inte

rven

tion

s (a).

Sem

ina

rs, con

fere

nce

s, an

d

oth

er d

eve

lop

me

nt e

ven

ts

an

d su

pp

ort re

gio

na

l

pa

rtne

rs, sha

re e

xpe

rtise

an

d cre

ate

op

po

rtun

ities

for jo

int w

orkin

g (b

).

Nu

me

racy p

roje

ct

fea

sibility re

po

rt an

d

reco

mm

en

da

tion

s/ actio

ns

as a

pp

rop

riate

(c).

Gro

win

g u

nd

ersta

nd

ing

of b

arrie

rs to so

cial

mo

bility w

ithin

the

reg

ion

an

d re

late

d in

terve

ntio

ns.

Incre

ase

d ca

pa

city with

in

ou

r reg

ion

to su

pp

ort

socia

l mo

bility.

Stron

g lo

cal p

artn

ersh

ips

an

d sh

are

d kn

ow

led

ge

an

d e

xpe

rtise.

Stud

en

ts ach

ieve

hig

he

r

stan

da

rds o

f nu

me

racy

Re

gio

na

l

pra

ctition

er

ne

two

rk;

NC

OP

;

Ce

ntre

for

Socia

l Mo

bility

eve

nts; T

ASO

2. School governance and perform

ance a

. G

ove

rna

nce

an

d sp

on

sorsh

ip a

rran

ge

me

nts o

f

prim

ary a

nd

seco

nd

ary sch

oo

ls with

in o

ur re

gio

n, to

sup

po

rt the

raisin

g o

f scho

ol p

erfo

rma

nce

stan

da

rds

with

in th

e So

uth

We

st i.e. E

xete

r Ma

the

ma

tics

Scho

ol; T

ed

Wra

gg

Tru

st; an

d So

uth

De

von

UT

C.

Exte

rna

l au

dit a

nd

asse

ssme

nt via

Ofste

d

Insp

ectio

n is a

tho

rou

gh

me

asu

re o

f wh

ole

scho

ol

pe

rform

an

ce in

clud

ing

go

vern

an

ce a

nd

is

the

refo

re d

ee

me

d

sufficie

nt in

rela

tion

to o

ur

Th

e u

nive

rsity active

ly pla

ys

a p

art in

go

vern

an

ce o

f key

scho

ols a

nd

pa

rtne

rship

s

with

in th

e re

gio

n.

Aca

de

mic sta

ff an

d

stud

en

ts pla

y an

active

role

as a

pp

rop

riate

e.g

. via

invo

lvem

en

t in cu

rriculu

m,

Go

od

stan

da

rds o

f scho

ol

pe

rform

an

ce a

nd

go

vern

an

ce

Ap

pro

pria

te su

pp

ort a

nd

pro

gra

mm

es fo

r FSM

pu

pils

MA

T

Scho

ols

pa

rtne

rship

s;

Loca

l ed

uca

tion

foru

ms b

uild

ing

on

op

po

rtun

ities

alre

ad

y in p

lace

7 V

ign

ole

s, An

na

an

d M

urra

y, N

eil (2

01

6) W

ide

nin

g p

articip

atio

n in

hig

he

r ed

uca

tion

. Ed

uca

tion

Scie

nce

s, 6 (2

).

1

7

an

d b

ette

r pro

spe

cts in

the

wo

rkpla

ce. 8

Low

leve

ls of

kno

wle

dg

e a

mo

ng

st

pa

ren

ts of W

P p

up

ils in

com

pa

rison

with

pe

ers

9.

An

alysis a

nd

revie

w o

f

existin

g p

rog

ram

me

eva

lua

tion

; stake

ho

lde

r

rese

arch

an

d Fin

din

gs

of P

are

nts a

s

Influ

en

cers’ o

f

Un

iversity a

mb

ition

.

Th

e D

fE h

as id

en

tified

the

ne

ed

for cro

ss-

secto

r colla

bo

ratio

n to

raise

pu

pil a

ttain

me

nt,

pa

rticula

rly in te

ach

ing

,

curricu

lum

, lea

de

rship

an

d ta

rge

ted

pa

rtne

rship

activity. 1

0

scho

ol sp

on

sorsh

ip

arra

ng

em

en

ts (a).

tea

chin

g e

nrich

me

nt a

nd

oth

er in

itiative

s (a).

e.g

. Sou

th W

est

Aca

de

mic T

rust)

3. Pupil and fam

ily support a

. D

eve

lop

ou

r pre

-16

Un

iversity o

f Scho

lars stra

nd

to

incre

ase

focu

s on

skills de

velo

pm

en

t an

d te

ach

ing

en

richm

en

t to b

ette

r sup

po

rt atta

inm

en

t an

d

incre

ase

pro

gre

ssion

po

st-16

to th

e w

ide

r

pro

gra

mm

e.

b.

Co

ntin

ue

to d

eve

lop

an

d e

xpa

nd

the

de

livery o

f ou

r

ou

trea

ch stra

nd

s rela

ting

to skills d

eve

lop

me

nt

(inclu

din

g lite

racy; m

ath

em

atics; stu

dy skills;

resilie

nce

), tea

chin

g e

nrich

me

nt (lin

ked

to

curricu

lum

); stud

en

t-ba

sed

tuto

ring

an

d p

ee

r

sup

po

rt.

c. D

eve

lop

ou

r too

ls an

d in

form

atio

n fo

r pa

ren

ts /care

rs

ava

ilab

le via

mu

ltiple

on

line

an

d o

ffline

cha

nn

els.

d.

Co

ntin

ue

d co

llab

ora

tion

with

Into

Un

iversity a

t the

Sou

th B

ristol C

en

tre to

pro

vide

aca

de

mic skills a

nd

rela

ted

sup

po

rt thro

ug

h a

rob

ust p

rog

ressio

n

fram

ew

ork, fro

m p

rima

ry ag

e u

pw

ard

s. We

will se

ek

to e

xpa

nd

this re

latio

nsh

ip to

sup

po

rt a g

rea

ter

volu

me

of p

up

ils from

targ

et LP

N a

nd

/or IM

D a

rea

s.

Eva

lua

tion

fram

ew

orks a

re

in p

lace

for In

toU

nive

rsity

an

d U

oE

Scho

lars re

latin

g

to kn

ow

led

ge

, attitu

de

s,

be

ha

viou

r with

qu

alita

tive

an

d q

ua

ntita

tive m

ea

sure

s,

plu

s com

pa

rato

r gro

up

an

alysis. W

e w

ill see

k to

imp

rove

/refin

e. T

ype

1/ 2

/3

wh

ere

po

ssible

(a, e

).

Ou

r ou

trea

ch e

valu

atio

n

inclu

de

s pre

an

d p

ost

inte

rven

tion

asse

ssme

nts

plu

s mo

nito

ring

(Typ

e 1

, 2).

Will se

ek to

imp

rove

with

oth

er m

ea

sure

s such

as

scho

ol fe

ed

ba

ck an

d

tea

che

r ob

serva

tion

. Utilise

HE

AT

(a, b

, c, d).

Spe

cific eva

lua

tion

me

asu

res a

nd

/or re

sea

rch

will b

e b

uilt in

to a

ny n

ew

initia

tive fro

m th

e o

utse

t as

pe

r ou

r eva

lua

tion

strate

gy

actio

n p

lan

, ap

pro

pria

te to

the

leve

l of in

vestm

en

t.

HE

pre

sen

ce in

the

com

mu

nity p

rovid

ing

aca

de

mic skills su

pp

ort fo

r

c. 2,5

00

pu

pils a

nd

the

ir

fam

ilies (a

).

Structu

red

pre

-16

pro

gre

ssion

pro

gra

mm

e fo

r

c. 25

0 Y

r 9/1

0 p

up

ils p.a

.

with

activitie

s to su

pp

ort

aca

de

mic a

chie

vem

en

t an

d

rela

ted

esse

ntia

l skills (a,

b).

Ag

ree

d p

acka

ge

of ye

ar-

ap

pro

pria

te in

terve

ntio

ns

(Yr9

/10

) with

pa

rtne

r an

d

WP

targ

et sch

oo

ls as

ag

ree

d w

ith sch

oo

l to

sup

po

rt ag

ree

d o

bje

ctives

(a, b

, d).

Co

mm

un

ity-ba

sed

aca

de

mic /su

pp

ort

pro

gra

mm

es fo

r pu

pils

ag

ed

7-1

7 (d

).

Gre

ate

r pro

po

rtion

of

pu

pils a

chie

ving

go

od

GC

SEs a

nd

leve

l 3 g

rad

es

Pa

rticipa

nts a

chie

ve

lea

rnin

g o

utco

me

s an

d

rep

ort im

pro

ved

mo

tivatio

n to

stud

y

Pa

rticipa

nts a

chie

ve

gra

de

atta

inm

en

t an

d

pro

gre

ssion

to H

E v

com

pa

rato

r gro

up

s.

Pa

ren

ts / care

rs rep

ort

imp

rove

d

kno

wle

dg

e/p

rep

are

dn

ess

for H

E.

Hig

he

r pro

po

rtion

of

Jun

ior Sch

ola

rs ach

ievin

g

go

od

GC

SEs. In

crea

sed

pre

-po

st 16

pro

gre

ssion

rate

for Sch

ola

rs.

Imp

rove

d co

nfid

en

ce,

ach

ieve

me

nt a

cad

em

ic

an

d e

na

blin

g skills

Into

Un

iversity

ne

two

rk

NE

ON

;

RG

WP

;

Re

gio

na

l

foru

ms; T

ASO

4. W

ork with Educators

a.

Cre

ate

an

d d

elive

r a n

ew

Ed

uca

tion

Pa

rtne

rship

sche

me

for e

ng

ag

ed

targ

et sch

oo

ls reg

ion

ally a

nd

na

tion

ally; w

ith o

bje

ctive-le

d a

nd

con

text-

ap

pro

pria

te su

pp

ort a

nd

en

ga

ge

me

nt w

ithin

a

Ne

w e

valu

atio

n fra

me

wo

rk

inclu

din

g m

on

itorin

g,

pre

/po

st sessio

n

asse

ssme

nt,

info

rma

l/form

al

stake

ho

lde

r fee

db

ack. T

ype

1, 2

. Will e

xplo

re fe

asib

ility

Ed

uca

tion

Pa

rtne

rship

sche

me

inclu

din

g ta

rge

t

scho

ols in

SW a

nd

in ke

y

na

tion

al re

gio

ns w

ith

pro

gra

mm

e o

f rela

ted

sup

po

rt (a).

Stron

ge

r rela

tion

ship

s

with

pa

rtne

r scho

ols.

Elig

ible

pu

pils a

nd

tea

che

rs/HE

ad

visors in

pa

rtne

r scho

ols im

pro

ve

kno

wle

dg

e/skills.

HE

Ad

visors;

Gra

du

ate

Scho

ol o

f

Ed

uca

tion

;

Pa

rtne

rship

ne

two

rk;

8 C

ulin

an

e C

, Mo

nta

cute

R, Life

Lesso

ns, Im

pro

ving

Sk

ills for Y

ou

ng

Pe

op

le, S

utto

n T

rust, 2

01

7

9 Pa

ren

ts as In

flue

nce

rs of U

nive

rsity Am

bitio

n, A

lterlin

e, 2

01

8 1

0 Sch

oo

ls tha

t wo

rk fo

r eve

ryo

ne

, De

pa

rtme

nt fo

r Ed

uca

tion

, 20

18

1

8

pro

gre

ssion

fram

ew

ork, to

be

tter su

pp

ort p

up

ils,

ad

visors a

nd

ed

uca

tors. D

eve

lop

me

nt o

f existin

g

Exe

ter Lin

ks sche

me

.

b.

Exp

an

d o

ur in

form

atio

n a

nd

train

ing

reso

urce

s to H

E

Ad

visors a

nd

tea

che

rs via H

E co

nfe

ren

ces, o

nlin

e

too

ls (e.g

. utilisin

g o

ur m

em

be

rship

to A

dva

ncin

g

Acce

ss).

of R

CT

or o

the

r type

3

eva

lua

tion

(a).

Pre

/po

st eve

nt e

valu

atio

n

of in

divid

ua

l sessio

ns,

trackin

g /a

na

lytics. Typ

e 1

,

2 (b

).

Un

iversity o

rga

nise

d H

E

Ad

visors IA

G/C

PD

sessio

ns.

Pro

vision

of o

nlin

e to

ols

an

d re

sou

rces a

nd

en

ga

ge

me

nt p

rog

ram

me

,

curre

ntly via

colla

bo

rative

pa

rtne

rship

s (b).

Te

ach

ers / H

E a

dviso

rs

are

be

tter e

qu

ipp

ed

to

sup

po

rt an

d e

na

ble

the

ir

pu

pils.

Exe

ter Lin

ks an

d

Ed

uca

tion

Pa

rtne

rs;

RG

WP

; TA

SO

3.1.2 O

bjective 1c: Widen and diversify our applicant pool across key student groups and optim

ise conversion

Strategic aim

Barriers (underpinning research and assum

ptions)

Planned activities to deliver (program

mes of w

ork) Evaluation m

ethodology Activity outputs

Anticipated outcomes

(linked to targets: PTA1-5)

Share and learn

1. Improve access to the University and work collaboratively within our region and to better understand and address barriers to social mobility Im

po

rtan

ce o

f flexib

le

lea

rnin

g o

ptio

ns to

attra

ct stud

en

ts wh

o d

o

no

t trad

ition

ally

pa

rticipa

te in

HE

. 11

Imp

orta

nce

of

con

sisten

t an

d su

stain

ed

inte

rven

tion

s with

in a

structu

red

an

d co

he

ren

t

fram

ew

ork. 1

2

Flexib

le o

utre

ach

wo

rk,

alig

ne

d w

ith in

clusive

ap

pro

ach

es to

ad

missio

ns, fle

xible

curricu

lum

de

sign

an

d

inclu

sive a

nd

em

be

dd

ed

1. Flexible provision and programm

e developm

ent

a.

Exte

nd

the

ran

ge

of D

eg

ree

Ap

pre

ntice

ship

pro

gra

mm

es a

vaila

ble

acro

ss a ra

ng

e o

f ap

plie

d

discip

line

are

as in

con

jun

ction

with

the

bu

sine

ss an

d

pu

blic se

ctor.

b.

Co

llab

ora

te w

ith FE

Co

lleg

e p

artn

ers to

offe

r rou

tes

into

ho

no

urs stu

dy a

t the

Un

iversity e

.g. E

xete

r

Co

lleg

e/B

usin

ess co

llab

ora

tion

.

c. E

xplo

re th

e d

eve

lop

me

nt o

f fou

nd

atio

n o

r simila

r

pro

gra

mm

es to

offe

r viab

le p

rog

ressio

n ro

ute

s into

sub

ject a

rea

s at h

on

ou

rs leve

l wh

ich h

ave

be

en

trad

ition

ally h

ard

to re

ach

for u

nd

er-re

pre

sen

ted

an

d

disa

dva

nta

ge

d b

ackg

rou

nd

s (sub

ject to

bu

sine

ss case

an

d p

rog

ram

me

ap

pro

val).

As p

er e

valu

atio

n o

f ou

r

ed

uca

tion

offe

r. Typ

e 1

, 2

(a, c).

Pro

gre

ssion

mo

nito

ring

.

Typ

e 1

, 2 w

he

re p

ossib

le (b

,

c, d).

Exp

an

d fro

m 8

2 fte

pla

ces

to 2

24

curre

ntly o

ffere

d

(pre

dicte

d co

urse

pro

file =

65

% W

P a

nd

30

% m

atu

re)

(a).

Pro

gre

ssion

of stu

de

nts

from

FE in

to ta

rge

t sub

jects

(b).

Ne

w p

rog

ram

me

s in p

lace

(c).

Re

view

of

pro

vision

/op

tion

s for p

art-

time

lea

rne

rs an

d re

late

d

me

asu

res (d

).

A m

ore

flexib

le p

ortfo

lio

to g

ive p

rosp

ective

stud

en

ts mo

re co

urse

an

d stu

dy ch

oice

s wh

ich

be

tter fit th

eir

circum

stan

ces.

Acce

ssible

pro

gre

ssion

rou

tes fo

r stud

en

ts from

no

n-tra

ditio

na

l

ba

ckgro

un

ds in

to

ho

no

urs stu

dy a

t Uo

E.

Pe

riod

ic revie

w

an

d re

flectio

n

with

in a

cad

em

ic

colle

ge

s an

d W

P

go

vern

an

ce.

1

1Mo

ore

, J.; Sa

nd

ers, J.; H

igh

am

, L. Litera

ture

Re

view

of R

ese

arch

into

Wid

en

ing

Pa

rticipa

tion

to H

igh

er E

du

catio

n. 2

01

3.

12 T

org

erso

n, C

aro

le, G

asco

ine

, Lou

ise, H

ea

ps, C

laire

, Me

nzie

s, Victo

ria, Y

ou

ng

er, K

irsty, H

igh

er E

du

catio

n a

ccess: e

vide

nce

of e

ffective

ne

ss of u

nive

rsity a

ccess stra

teg

ies a

nd

ap

pro

ach

es, S

utto

n T

rust a

nd

Du

rha

m

Un

iversity

, 20

14

1

9

pa

stora

l sup

po

rt, are

ne

ed

ed

to w

ide

n a

du

lt

pa

rticipa

tion

in H

E

stud

y. 13

Co

nte

xtua

lised

ad

missio

ns n

ee

ds to

be

pa

rt of a

n in

teg

rate

d

ap

pro

ach

tha

t

en

com

pa

sses su

pp

ort

an

d o

utre

ach

prio

r to

hig

he

r ed

uca

tion

an

d

con

tinu

es th

rou

gh

ou

t

the

stud

en

t lifecycle

or

stud

en

t pro

gre

ssion

with

in h

igh

er e

du

catio

n

into

furth

er stu

dy a

nd

em

plo

yme

nt. 1

4

d.

Exp

lore

op

tion

s for m

akin

g o

ur p

ortfo

lio m

ore

acce

ssible

for p

art-tim

e le

arn

ers.

2. Fair access and outreach a

. G

row

sub

stan

tially a

nd

refin

e o

ur su

ccessfu

l fair

acce

ss pro

gra

mm

e, U

nive

rsity of E

xete

r Scho

lars, to

incre

ase

the

volu

me

of stu

de

nts p

rog

ressin

g to

the

Un

iversity o

f Exe

ter.

b.

De

velo

p a

nd

imp

lem

en

t fair a

ccess stra

nd

s

spe

cifically to

be

tter m

ee

t the

ne

ed

s of m

atu

re

stud

en

ts.

c. Stre

ng

the

n o

ur re

latio

nsh

ips w

ith th

e FE

Co

lleg

e

ne

two

rk to b

ette

r sup

po

rt pre

pa

ratio

n/re

cruitm

en

t

an

d tra

nsitio

n o

f stud

en

t with

Acce

ss an

d B

TE

C

qu

alifica

tion

s.

d.

Re

view

an

d im

pro

ve w

he

re p

ossib

le o

ur p

rog

ressio

n

stran

d a

nd

rela

ted

pra

ctical a

nd

fina

ncia

l sup

po

rt for

care

lea

vers, w

orkin

g in

colla

bo

ratio

n w

ith lo

cal

au

tho

rities, N

NE

CL, U

nite

an

d o

the

rs as a

pp

rop

riate

to e

nsu

re th

ey m

ee

t be

st pra

ctice p

rincip

les. 1

5

e.

Intro

du

ce m

ore

structu

red

an

d ta

rge

ted

en

ga

ge

me

nt

with

scho

ols a

nd

colle

ge

s, bo

th So

uth

We

st an

d

na

tion

ally, to

offe

r ap

pro

pria

te a

dvice

an

d g

uid

an

ce;

skills de

velo

pm

en

t; tea

chin

g e

nrich

me

nt;

em

plo

yab

ility an

d H

E p

rep

are

dn

ess se

ssion

s; with

in

an

ag

e-a

pp

rop

riate

pro

gre

ssion

fram

ew

ork to

stud

en

ts with

the

po

ten

tial to

succe

ed

at th

e

Un

iversity o

f Exe

ter.

Eva

lua

tion

fram

ew

orks

(type

1 a

nd

2) a

re in

pla

ce

for U

oE

Scho

lars re

latin

g to

kno

wle

dg

e, a

ttitud

es,

be

ha

viou

r with

qu

alita

tive

an

d q

ua

ntita

tive m

ea

sure

s,

plu

s com

pa

rato

r gro

up

an

alysis (a

, b).

We

are

en

ha

ncin

g

eva

lua

tion

of o

ur w

ork w

ith

scho

ols, w

hich

will in

clud

e

an

alysis o

f a ra

ng

e o

f

trackin

g, m

on

itorin

g a

nd

oth

er d

ata

com

bin

ed

with

qu

alita

tive re

sea

rch a

nd

info

rma

l fee

db

ack. T

ype

1,

2 a

nd

revie

w o

pp

ortu

nitie

s

for typ

e 3

(b, c, d

, e, f).

Structu

red

Yr9

-13

pro

gre

ssion

fram

ew

ork

ba

sed

on

be

st pra

ctice

prin

ciple

s, with

asso

ciate

d

tran

sition

sup

po

rt.

Pro

gre

ssion

ba

selin

e o

f c.

10

0 stu

de

nts a

nn

ua

lly, with

aim

to ra

ise th

is to 1

50

(a).

Mo

re m

atu

re stu

de

nts

ap

ply/co

nve

rt to stu

dy a

t

Uo

E (b

).

Ad

vice a

nd

gu

ida

nce

pro

gra

mm

e fo

r ma

ture

stud

en

ts with

rela

ted

FE

Co

lleg

e e

ng

ag

em

en

t (b, c).

Exte

nd

ed

ad

missio

ns

criteria

for ca

re le

ave

rs an

d

imp

rove

d p

rog

ram

me

of

sup

po

rt ba

sed

on

rese

arch

(d).

Ne

w IA

G a

nd

skills sessio

ns,

ma

pp

ed

on

to G

atsb

y

be

nch

ma

rks an

d cu

rriculu

m

(a, c, e

, f).

Re

sea

rch a

nd

de

velo

pm

en

t

of n

ew

ap

pro

ach

es to

mo

ve

ou

r pra

ctice fo

rwa

rds.

Incre

ase

in stu

de

nts

pro

gre

ssing

to E

xete

r an

d

HE

via U

oE

fair a

ccess

sche

me

s.

Incre

ase

in stu

de

nts

pro

gre

ssing

to re

sea

rch

inte

nsive

un

iversitie

s via

Re

alisin

g O

pp

ortu

nitie

s.

Hig

he

r pro

po

rtion

of

targ

et stu

de

nts a

chie

ving

gra

de

s

Incre

ase

in m

atu

re

stud

en

t recru

itme

nt.

Imp

rove

d a

ccess to

Uo

E

for stu

de

nts w

ith

exp

erie

nce

of b

ein

g in

care

.

Exe

ter Sch

ola

rs

An

nu

al R

ep

ort;

NE

ON

;

HE

LOA

;

NN

EC

L;

Ed

uca

tion

Pa

rtne

rs;

Ou

trea

ch H

ub

;

TA

SO;

1

3 Un

de

rstan

din

g th

e im

pa

ct of o

utre

ach

on

acce

ss to h

igh

er e

du

catio

n fo

r ad

ult le

arn

ers fro

m d

isad

van

tag

ed

ba

ckg

rou

nd

s: an

institu

tion

al re

spo

nse

, Office

for F

air A

ccess, 2

01

7

14 M

ou

ntfo

rd-Z

imd

ars, A

nn

a, M

oo

re, Jo

an

na

an

d G

rah

am

, Jan

et (2

01

6) Is co

nte

xtua

lised

ad

missio

n th

e a

nsw

er to

the

acce

ss cha

llen

ge

? P

ersp

ective

s: Po

licy a

nd

Pra

ctice in

Hig

he

r Ed

uca

tion

, Ro

utle

dg

e, T

aylo

r an

d

Fra

ncis. 2

01

6.

15 P

rincip

les to

gu

ide

hig

he

r ed

uca

tion

pro

vide

rs on

imp

rovin

g ca

re le

ave

rs acce

ss an

d p

articip

atio

n in

HE

, De

pa

rtme

nt o

f Ed

uca

tion

, 20

14

2

0

f. D

eve

lop

an

d p

ilot, n

ew

fair a

ccess in

itiative

s in

resp

on

se to

em

erg

ing

rese

arch

as a

pp

rop

riate

,

pa

rticula

rly with

in o

ur lo

cal SW

con

text a

nd

in

colla

bo

ratio

n e

.g. via

the

Ou

trea

ch H

ub

.

3. Comm

unications and marketing

a. B

uild

bra

nd

reco

gn

ition

an

d co

nfid

en

ce in

scho

ols a

nd

colle

ge

s wh

ose

stud

en

ts ha

ve th

e p

ote

ntia

l to e

nte

r

an

d su

ccee

d a

t the

Un

iversity o

f Exe

ter, th

rou

gh

a

pro

gra

mm

e o

f stake

ho

lde

r en

ga

ge

me

nt a

nd

targ

ete

d

com

mu

nica

tion

s.

b.

En

sure

dive

rsity is fully re

pre

sen

ted

an

d ca

tere

d fo

r

with

in o

ur in

form

atio

n a

nd

ma

rketin

g m

ate

rials fo

r

pro

spe

ctive stu

de

nts, so

stud

en

ts can

find

the

info

rma

tion

the

y ne

ed

an

d fe

el th

ey a

re w

elco

me

.

Eva

lua

tion

via a

varie

ty of

qu

an

titative

an

d q

ua

litative

me

asu

res a

nd

ma

rket

rese

arch

, inclu

din

g u

ser

testin

g a

nd

qu

alita

tive

fee

db

ack (a

, b).

Inte

gra

ted

ma

rketin

g

com

mu

nica

tion

s pla

ns a

nd

activitie

s acro

ss mu

ltiple

cha

nn

els to

incre

ase

aw

are

ne

ss of th

e U

nive

rsity

as a

n in

stitutio

n w

hich

valu

es a

nd

we

lcom

es

dive

rsity an

d w

hich

pre

sen

ts an

op

tion

(a, b

).

Stud

en

ts pe

rceive

the

Un

iversity a

s a via

ble

cho

ice fo

r the

m.

Stud

en

ts pe

rceive

the

Un

iversity a

s a p

lace

wh

ich va

lue

s dive

rsity in

wh

ich th

ey w

ill be

we

lcom

e.

Gre

ate

r volu

me

of e

ligib

le

stud

en

ts ap

plyin

g to

Exe

ter

CA

SE;

Re

leva

nt

na

tion

al fo

rum

s

2. Adm

issions practice

a.

Bu

ild o

n lo

ng

-stan

din

g co

mm

itme

nt to

con

textu

al

offe

rs we

will se

ek o

pp

ortu

nitie

s to e

xten

d o

ur

con

textu

alise

d o

ffer p

olicy to

a b

roa

de

r ran

ge

of

stud

en

ts an

d circu

msta

nce

s; rem

ove

un

ne

cessa

ry

ba

rriers to

ad

missio

ns p

rese

nte

d th

rou

gh

the

ap

plica

tion

pro

cess; e

nsu

re th

ese

po

licies a

re

tran

spa

ren

tly an

d e

ffective

ly com

mu

nica

ted

.

b.

Cre

ate

a le

vel p

layin

g fie

ld fo

r stud

en

ts un

de

rtakin

g

ad

ditio

na

l sele

ction

pro

cesse

s to e

nsu

re n

o o

ne

is

ina

dve

rten

tly disa

dva

nta

ge

d b

eca

use

of th

eir

circum

stan

ces e

.g. p

rep

ara

tion

an

d tra

vel su

pp

ort fo

r

Me

dica

l Scho

ol in

tervie

w p

roce

sses.

c. In

vest in

exp

ert a

dm

ission

s an

d stu

de

nt su

pp

ort to

pro

vide

tailo

red

ad

vice a

nd

gu

ida

nce

to stu

de

nts

from

no

n-tra

ditio

na

l ba

ckgro

un

ds th

rou

gh

ou

t the

ap

plica

tion

pro

cess

Exte

nsive

inte

rna

l an

alysis

of a

dm

ission

s da

ta a

nd

linke

d re

po

rting

com

bin

ed

with

stud

en

t surve

ys an

d

fee

db

ack.

Ad

missio

ns p

olicy w

hich

take

s con

textu

al fa

ctors

into

acco

un

t in th

e o

ffer

ma

king

pro

cess in

ord

er to

exte

nd

the

ran

ge

of o

ffers

de

pe

nd

en

t on

pe

rson

al a

nd

ed

uca

tion

facto

rs (a).

Inte

rview

pre

pa

ratio

n a

nd

oth

er su

pp

ort m

ea

sure

s for

elig

ible

stud

en

ts as p

art o

f

the

recru

itme

nt

pro

gra

mm

e (b

).

Ta

ilore

d stu

de

nt su

pp

ort

thro

ug

h th

e a

dm

ission

s

pro

cess (a

, b, c).

Stud

en

ts do

no

t

exp

erie

nce

un

ne

cessa

ry

ba

rriers w

ithin

the

Ad

missio

ns p

roce

ss.

Stud

en

ts un

de

rstan

d

the

ir con

text w

ill be

take

n in

to co

nsid

era

tion

at a

pp

licatio

n.

Stud

en

ts rece

ive b

est

po

ssible

info

rma

tion

to

en

ab

le th

em

to n

avig

ate

the

recru

itme

nt p

roce

ss.

Larg

er p

rop

ortio

n o

f

stud

en

ts rece

ive

con

textu

al o

ffers.

Larg

er p

rop

ortio

n o

f

stud

en

ts con

vert.

HE

LOA

;

NE

ON

;

TA

SO;

RG

WP

2

1

3.1.3 O

bjective 1d: Encourage, support and prepare prospective students to enter higher education

Strategic aim

Barriers (underpinning research and assum

ptions)

Planned activities to deliver (program

mes of w

ork)

Evaluation m

ethodology Activity outputs

Anticipated outcomes

(linked to targets: PTA1-5)

Share and learn

1. Improve access to the University of Exeter and work collaboratively within our region and to better understand and

address barriers to social mobility

NSSW

an

nu

al re

po

rt an

d

eva

lua

tion

.

Re

alisin

g O

pp

ortu

nitie

s

eva

lua

tion

de

mo

nstra

ting

pro

gre

ssion

to R

ese

arch

Inte

nsive

Institu

tion

s an

d

HE

mo

re g

en

era

lly.

Pa

thw

ays to

Law

/Sutto

n

Tru

st eva

lua

tion

an

d

rep

orts in

dica

ting

pro

gre

ssion

rate

s to H

E.

1. Collaborate to achieve best value and optim

ise impact*

a.

Wo

rk in p

artn

ersh

ip w

ith o

the

r HE

pro

vide

rs,

scho

ols a

nd

Co

lleg

es in

the

Sou

th W

est a

nd

na

tion

ally to

en

cou

rag

e th

e p

rog

ressio

n o

f stud

en

ts

to H

E e

.g. th

rou

gh

Ne

xt Step

s Sou

th W

est a

nd

Ou

trea

ch H

ub

.

b.

Co

ntrib

ute

to R

ea

lising

Op

po

rtun

ities, a

colla

bo

ratio

n o

f rese

arch

inte

nsive

un

iversitie

s

wo

rking

with

sha

red

ob

jective

s to su

pp

ort th

e O

fS

in e

limin

atin

g th

e n

atio

na

l ga

p in

en

try rate

s at

hig

he

r-tariff p

rovid

ers b

etw

ee

n th

e m

ost a

nd

lea

st

un

de

r-rep

rese

nte

d g

rou

ps. R

O a

lso co

ntrib

ute

s to

ou

r ow

n stra

teg

ic aim

to im

pro

ve a

ccess to

Uo

E.

c. R

evie

w a

nd

form

ula

te n

ew

pa

rtne

rship

s as

ap

pro

pria

te to

be

st sup

po

rt the

ob

jective

s with

in

this p

lan

.

Ne

xt Step

s Sou

th W

est is

sub

ject to

its ow

n A

PP

an

d

rela

ted

eva

lua

tion

strate

gy

(a).

RO

is un

de

rpin

ne

d b

y

rob

ust e

valu

atio

n,

un

de

rtake

n b

y

ind

ep

en

de

nt e

valu

ato

rs,

wh

ich is a

the

ory o

f cha

ng

e

mo

de

l usin

g n

arra

tive,

em

pirica

l rese

arch

an

d

cau

sality e

valu

atio

n typ

es

to e

vide

nce

imp

act. T

ype

1,

2/3

(b).

Existin

g p

artn

ers a

re

req

ue

sted

to p

rovid

e

rob

ust e

valu

atio

n a

ga

inst

ag

ree

d o

bje

ctives. A

n

eva

lua

tion

pla

n is o

ne

of

the

ag

ree

d o

utp

uts o

f the

Ele

ph

an

t Gro

up

sche

me

for

exa

mp

le (c).

Imp

lem

en

t Ne

xt Step

s

Sou

th W

est p

rog

ram

me

an

d co

ntrib

ute

to O

utre

ach

Hu

b e

nsu

ring

reg

ion

al

imp

act (a

).

De

liver R

ea

lising

Op

po

rtun

ities p

rog

ram

me

to su

pp

ort p

rog

ressio

n to

rese

arch

inte

nsive

un

iversitie

s (b).

Imp

lem

en

t lea

rnin

gs fro

m

colla

bo

ratio

ns w

ith th

e

Sutto

n T

rust (P

ath

wa

ys to

Law

) an

d B

rillian

t Clu

b (c).

Imp

lem

en

t lea

rnin

gs fro

m

reg

ion

al p

ilot p

artn

ersh

ips

with

Th

e E

lep

ha

nt G

rou

p in

Lon

do

n, a

nd

SER

EN

ne

two

rk in W

ale

s (c).

Co

ntrib

ute

to p

rop

ortio

n

of LP

NQ

1 stu

de

nts fro

m

loca

l are

a p

rog

ressin

g to

HE

.

Co

ntrib

ute

to p

oo

l or W

P

stud

en

ts pro

gre

ssing

to

rese

arch

inte

nsive

un

iversitie

s.

Pro

po

rtion

of R

O

stud

en

ts* w

ho

are

tracke

d in

to H

E w

ho

will

acce

ss a re

sea

rch

inte

nsive

un

iversity (R

IU)

with

in tw

o ye

ars o

f

be

com

ing

‘HE

rea

dy’ a

nd

com

ple

ting

the

ir Po

st-16

stud

ies, risin

g fro

m 4

2%

to 5

4%

ove

r pe

riod

of

pla

n (a

gre

ed

pa

rtne

rship

colla

bo

rative

targ

et).

Pa

rticipa

tion

in

NSSW

foru

ms.

Re

gio

na

l Ce

ntre

for So

cial

Mo

bility e

ven

ts.

Pa

rtne

rship

an

d

sche

me

an

nu

al

rep

orts a

nd

disse

min

atio

n

eve

nts

*It is noted the majority of our partnerships (including those below

) will be subject to renew

al (or the in case of NCO

P, termination) during the period of this plan. And, it is also acknow

ledged that new partnerships

may be form

ed in response to changes in context.

2

2

3.2

Success and progression measures

Ach

ievin

g th

e ve

ry be

st for o

ur stu

de

nts in

term

s of re

ten

tion

, atta

inm

en

t an

d g

rad

ua

te o

utco

me

s is at th

e h

ea

rt of o

ur p

rovisio

n a

nd

ed

uca

tion

strate

gy.

Wh

ile w

e h

ave

som

e o

bse

rvab

le g

ap

s be

twe

en

key stu

de

nts’ g

rou

ps, o

ur su

ccess a

nd

pro

gre

ssion

rate

s are

go

od

com

pa

red

to th

e se

ctor a

nd

the

actio

ns to

sup

po

rt this a

re ve

ry mu

ch co

re b

usin

ess.

Disa

gg

reg

atin

g o

ur co

ntin

ua

l pro

cesse

s of im

pro

vem

en

t, pa

rticula

rly linke

d to

ou

r Ed

uca

tion

, ED

I an

d W

ellb

ein

g stra

teg

ies, fro

m th

ose

strate

gic m

ea

sure

s

spe

cifically d

esig

ne

d o

r likely to

ad

dre

ss ob

serva

ble

ga

ps is d

ifficult w

ithin

the

con

fine

s of th

is pla

n. W

e h

ave

no

statistica

lly sign

ifican

t ga

ps in

gra

du

ate

ou

tcom

es, fo

r exa

mp

le (a

nd

are

min

dfu

l of ch

an

gin

g m

etrics a

ffectin

g ta

rge

ting

an

d b

ase

line

me

asu

res) a

nd

yet w

e w

ou

ld se

ek to

ma

inta

in e

ffective

pra

ctice in

this a

rea

. Sim

ilarly, a

dd

ressin

g g

ap

s in re

latio

n to

ou

r disa

ble

d stu

de

nts is im

po

ssible

to d

isag

gre

ga

te fro

m th

e d

eve

lop

me

nt a

nd

effica

cy of o

ur

we

llbe

ing

an

d a

ccessib

ility service

s. Re

fere

nce

is the

refo

re m

ad

e to

the

se a

ctivities b

ut th

ey a

re n

ot o

utlin

ed

in a

ny d

ep

th. Like

wise

stud

en

ts with

com

ple

x

ne

ed

s such

as ca

re le

ave

rs, care

rs an

d e

stran

ge

d stu

de

nts, a

re n

ot sta

tistically sig

nifica

nt w

he

n it co

me

s to o

bse

rving

ga

ps in

succe

ss an

d p

rog

ressio

n, b

ut

to o

mit th

em

wo

uld

no

t alig

n w

ith th

e stra

teg

ic aim

s pre

sen

ted

with

in th

is pla

n. W

e a

re h

igh

ly am

bitio

us w

he

n it co

me

s to m

akin

g su

re a

ll ou

r stud

en

ts

ha

ve th

e to

ols a

nd

sup

po

rt the

y ne

ed

to su

ccee

d. W

e th

ere

fore

inclu

de

strate

gic m

ea

sure

s rela

ting

to th

ese

gro

up

s, eve

n th

ou

gh

the

sma

ll nu

mb

er o

f

ind

ividu

als a

ffecte

d a

re u

nlike

ly to im

pa

ct on

the

targ

ets w

ithin

this p

lan

.

It sho

uld

be

also

be

no

ted

tha

t ma

ny o

f ou

r ap

pro

ach

es, p

articu

larly to

succe

ss an

d p

rog

ressio

n, a

re n

ot so

lely re

stricted

to stu

de

nts m

ee

ting

WP

criteria

or

ind

ee

d h

om

e/E

U fe

e p

aye

rs, bu

t inste

ad

are

wh

ole

institu

tion

resp

on

ses fo

r the

be

ne

fit of a

ll stud

en

ts – th

ose

rela

ting

to in

clusivity a

nd

we

llbe

ing

, are

prim

e e

xam

ple

s. We

will th

ere

fore

em

plo

y a ra

ng

e o

f institu

tion

al im

pro

vem

en

ts sup

ple

me

nte

d w

he

re a

pp

rop

riate

by in

itiative

s an

d p

rog

ram

me

s for

spe

cific targ

et g

rou

ps, w

he

n th

e e

vide

nce

sug

ge

sts it is ap

pro

pria

te to

do

so. T

he

strate

gic m

ea

sure

s de

scribe

d th

ere

fore

focu

s on

tho

se a

ctivities id

en

tified

to sp

ecifica

lly ad

dre

ss ga

ps re

latin

g to

core

gro

up

s an

d a

re u

nd

erp

inn

ed

by m

ea

sure

s rela

ting

to b

uild

ing

an

inclu

sive stu

de

nt a

nd

un

iversity cu

lture

.

HE

FC

E’s C

au

ses in

Diffe

ren

t Stu

de

nt O

utco

me

s rep

ort

16 co

nclu

de

d th

at re

ten

tion

an

d su

ccess a

re b

est a

dd

resse

d b

y ap

pro

ach

es w

hich

see

k to d

eve

lop

sup

po

rtive p

ee

r rela

tion

s; me

an

ing

ful in

tera

ction

be

twe

en

staff a

nd

stud

en

ts; kno

wle

dg

e, co

nfid

en

ce a

nd

ide

ntity a

s succe

ssful H

E le

arn

ers; a

nd

an

HE

exp

erie

nce

tha

t is rele

van

t to stu

de

nts’ in

tere

sts an

d fu

ture

go

als. It a

lso id

en

tified

the

imp

orta

nce

of e

ffective

tran

sition

as a

con

tribu

tor to

succe

ssful

ou

tcom

es. In

ad

ditio

n, th

e T

ran

sform

ing

Tra

nsitio

ns p

roje

ct ha

s be

en

pa

rticula

rly he

lpfu

l in b

roa

de

nin

g o

ur u

nd

ersta

nd

ing

of th

e b

arrie

rs face

d b

y stud

en

ts

as th

ey tra

nsitio

n fro

m o

ne

ed

uca

tion

al se

tting

into

an

oth

er. W

hile

this w

ork fo

cuse

d o

n stu

de

nts w

ith B

TE

Cs in

pa

rticula

r, we

fee

l ma

ny o

f the

lea

rnin

gs

are

tran

sferra

ble

to th

e g

en

era

l po

pu

latio

n a

nd

to m

atu

re stu

de

nts ta

king

acce

ss qu

alifica

tion

s in p

articu

lar. W

e h

ave

teste

d a

pp

roa

che

s as p

art o

f this

pro

ject a

nd

also

with

in o

ur p

ractice

– fo

r exa

mp

le, h

old

ing

ou

r first tran

sition

con

fere

nce

for stu

de

nts m

ee

ting

certa

in W

P crite

ria in

20

18

– b

ut th

e n

ext

step

will b

e to

integrate best practice approaches to transition within our recruitm

ent and enrolment processes. O

ur a

pp

roa

ch to

tran

sition

will b

e

thre

efo

ld: 1

) wo

rking

with

scho

ols a

nd

FE

Co

lleg

es to

be

tter p

rep

are

pro

spe

ctive stu

de

nts a

s pa

rt of th

e p

rep

ara

tion

for H

E; 2

) spe

cific inte

rven

tion

s for ke

y

1

6 Mo

un

tford

-Zim

da

rs, An

na

, Sa

bri, D

un

a, M

oo

re, Jo

an

na

, Sa

nd

ers, Jo

hn

, Jon

es S

teve

n, H

igh

am

, Lou

ise, C

au

ses o

f diffe

ren

ces in

stud

en

t ou

tcom

es, H

EF

CE

, 20

15

.

2

3

gro

up

s pre

an

d p

ost e

nro

lme

nt, w

he

re e

vide

nce

sug

ge

sts it is ap

pro

pria

te to

do

so; 3

) inte

gra

ted

ap

pro

ach

es to

the

be

ne

fit of a

ll stud

en

ts with

in a

structu

red

pro

cess o

f ind

uctio

n.

Ou

r ow

n in

tern

al a

na

lysis sho

ws a

corre

latio

n b

etw

ee

n a

stud

en

t’s pe

rform

an

ce in

Ye

ar 1

an

d th

eir fin

al o

utco

me

s. We

also

exp

erie

nce

a se

ries o

f pin

ch

po

ints w

ithin

the

first yea

r wh

en

stud

en

ts are

mo

re like

ly to d

iscon

tinu

e. In

ad

ditio

n to

all th

e issu

es stu

de

nts fa

ce in

the

first yea

r – b

ein

g a

wa

y from

ho

me

,

stress a

nd

an

xiety a

bo

ut b

ein

g w

ithin

a n

ew

en

viron

me

nt, e

stab

lishin

g re

latio

nsh

ips a

nd

ge

tting

to g

rips w

ith a

ne

w e

du

catio

na

l en

viron

me

nt –

we

are

fully

aw

are

tha

t ea

ch stu

de

nt h

as d

ifferin

g le

vels o

f kno

wle

dg

e a

nd

con

fide

nce

rela

ting

to th

e ke

y com

pe

ten

cies re

qu

ired

by first ye

ar stu

dy. W

e th

ere

fore

view

the

first yea

r as critica

l in o

ptim

ising

stud

en

t ou

tcom

es, p

articu

larly fo

r tho

se g

rou

ps o

f stud

en

ts wh

ere

ga

ps a

re in

evid

en

ce. W

e will focus on m

aking sure that Year 1 is as effective as possible in enabling all students to succeed

. We

an

ticipa

te o

ur a

pp

roa

ch to

Ye

ar 1

will co

nce

ntra

te o

n th

e fo

llow

ing

are

as: 1

)

wo

rking

with

stud

en

ts to id

en

tify the

ir lea

rnin

g n

ee

ds a

nd

pu

tting

in p

lace

inte

rven

tion

s to e

na

ble

all stu

de

nts to

me

et m

inim

um

req

uire

me

nts o

f aca

de

mic

skill an

d IT

litera

cy; 2) R

evie

win

g a

nd

en

ha

ncin

g o

ur Y

ea

r 1 p

rog

ram

me

structu

res a

nd

mo

du

les to

en

sure

the

y fully su

pp

ort stu

de

nts to

bu

ild le

vels o

f

com

pe

ten

cy to a

chie

ve su

ccessfu

l ou

tcom

es in

futu

re ye

ars; 3

) Fo

cusin

g o

n h

ow

we

can

wo

rk with

stud

en

ts to b

uild

resilie

nce

an

d b

ette

r sup

po

rt we

llbe

ing

.

We recognise that funding pressures for low

income students m

aterially affect success and progression. O

ur A

ccess to

Exe

ter B

ursa

ry is inte

nd

ed

to

sup

po

rt rete

ntio

n fo

r tho

se stu

de

nts w

ith th

e lo

we

st ho

use

ho

ld in

com

es a

nd

ind

ee

d o

ur e

valu

atio

n sh

ow

s tha

t stud

en

ts in re

ceip

t of th

e b

ursa

ry are

as

likely to

con

tinu

e a

s the

ir pe

ers. T

he

bu

rsary is a

uto

ma

tically issu

ed

to stu

de

nts b

ase

d o

n in

form

atio

n d

isclose

d to

Stu

de

nt F

ina

nce

En

gla

nd

an

d o

the

r

fun

din

g b

od

ies. W

e cu

rren

tly ha

ve tw

o le

vels o

f aw

ard

de

pe

nd

ing

on

inco

me

bra

cket. T

he

pa

yme

nt th

resh

old

an

d fu

nd

ing

leve

ls are

revie

we

d a

nn

ua

lly

follo

win

g e

valu

atio

n. In

form

atio

n is sh

are

d w

ith stu

de

nts o

nlin

e, th

rou

gh

ad

missio

ns’ co

mm

un

icatio

ns a

nd

with

in o

ur p

rosp

ectu

s. Info

rma

tion

ab

ou

t ou

r

curre

nt fin

an

cial p

acka

ge

can

be

fou

nd

at w

ww

.exe

ter.a

c.uk/u

nd

erg

rad

ua

te/m

on

ey/sch

ola

rship

s. As th

is is revie

we

d a

nn

ua

lly to e

nsu

re in

crem

en

tal

fun

din

g p

ressu

res a

nd

eva

lua

tion

are

take

n in

to a

ccou

nt, it w

ou

ld n

ot b

e a

pp

rop

riate

to in

dica

te fu

ture

yea

rs of p

rovisio

n w

ithin

this p

lan

. Th

e p

rese

nt le

vel

of a

wa

rd h

ow

eve

r will b

e a

t the

very le

ast b

e m

ain

tain

ed

un

less th

ere

are

sub

stan

tial ch

an

ge

s to w

ay in

wh

ich u

nive

rsities a

re fu

nd

ed

or e

valu

atio

n

ind

icate

s a ch

an

ge

of a

pp

roa

ch is re

qu

ired

.

In a

dd

ition

to th

e A

ccess to

Exe

ter B

ursa

ry, we

pro

vide

a ra

ng

e o

f sup

po

rt for e

ligib

le W

P stu

de

nts su

ch a

s pa

id in

tern

ship

s an

d a

ccess to

fun

ds to

sup

po

rt

em

plo

yab

ility an

d a

ccess to

stud

en

t socie

ties fo

r exa

mp

le. E

na

blin

g fu

nd

ing

an

d p

ractica

l he

lp fo

r stud

en

ts with

ou

t fam

ily can

ma

ke th

e d

iffere

nce

be

twe

en

stayin

g a

t un

iversity a

nd

dro

pp

ing

ou

t. In a

dd

ition

to fu

ll tuitio

n fe

e w

aive

rs for ca

re le

ave

rs, we

offe

r acco

mm

od

atio

n b

ursa

ries a

nd

exte

nd

ed

acco

mm

od

atio

n co

ntra

cts for th

ese

stud

en

ts an

d h

ave

ad

ditio

na

l bu

rsary su

pp

ort fo

r estra

ng

ed

stud

en

ts an

d stu

de

nt ca

rers. T

he

se fu

nd

s are

issue

d b

ase

d

on

ne

ed

with

the

aim

of su

pp

ortin

g re

ten

tion

. Usin

g h

ard

ship

an

d e

na

blin

g fu

nd

s to re

mo

ve sp

ecific p

ressu

res a

nd

pin

ch p

oin

ts rem

ain

s an

imp

orta

nt

strate

gic m

ea

sure

an

d o

ne

wh

ich w

ill we

con

tinu

e to

eva

lua

te a

nd

ad

just a

ccord

ing

ly.

As T

EF

-Go

ld ra

ted

ed

uca

tors w

ith a

n O

fsted

-rate

d e

xcelle

nt G

rad

ua

te S

cho

ol o

f Ed

uca

tion

, we

un

de

rstan

d th

at le

arn

ers h

ave

diffe

ring

ne

ed

s, lea

rnin

g style

s

an

d co

mp

ete

ncie

s an

d th

at g

oo

d te

ach

ing

pra

ctice a

dd

resse

s this d

iversity

to e

na

ble

all stu

de

nts to

succe

ed

. Inclu

sive te

ach

ing

pra

ctice is a

pla

nk o

f ou

r

aca

de

mic tra

inin

g a

nd

an

imp

orta

nt stra

nd

of th

e w

ork u

nd

erta

ken

by o

ur E

du

catio

n In

cub

ato

r to te

st pe

da

go

gica

l pra

ctice a

nd

inn

ova

tion

. We

also

take

on

2

4

bo

ard

the

find

ing

s of th

e N

US

an

d U

UK

rep

ort o

n th

e B

lack, A

sian

an

d M

ino

rity Eth

nic A

ttain

me

nt G

ap

17 a

nd

aim

to le

arn

from

rece

nt w

ork u

nd

erta

ken

by

Kin

gsto

n a

nd

UC

L un

iversitie

s, rela

ting

to th

e im

po

rtan

ce o

f dive

rsity with

in th

e cu

rriculu

m a

s pa

rt of e

fforts to

red

uce

ou

r atta

inm

en

t ga

p.

We therefore propose curriculum

design and inclusive teaching practice as key strategic measures in closing observable gaps in attainm

ent, particularly in relation to BAM

E students. Ou

r ap

pro

ach

es w

ill focu

s on

: 1) im

ple

me

ntin

g b

est p

ractice

ap

pro

ach

es to

revie

w a

nd

ad

just o

ur cu

rriculu

m to

imp

rove

dive

rsity an

d re

pre

sen

tatio

n o

f a b

roa

de

r ran

ge

of e

xpe

rien

ce a

nd

exp

ertise

; 2) im

ple

me

nt syste

ma

tic ap

pro

ach

es to

bu

ildin

g kn

ow

led

ge

an

d skills to

en

ha

nce

inclu

sive te

ach

ing

pra

ctice.

Wh

ile o

ur stu

de

nts a

chie

ve g

oo

d g

rad

ua

te o

utco

me

s with

no

statistica

lly sign

ifican

t ga

ps b

etw

ee

n ke

y gro

up

s, we

are

kee

n to

reta

in a

targ

et a

nd

will fo

cus

on

stud

en

ts from

the

low

est h

ou

seh

old

inco

me

s rom

ou

r AT

E re

cipie

nt g

rou

p. W

e h

ave

clea

rly ha

d su

ccess in

ou

r em

plo

yab

ility me

asu

res g

iven

ou

r track

reco

rd a

nd

the

da

ta h

ere

bu

t will se

ek to

ga

in a

be

tter u

nd

ersta

nd

ing

of re

late

d im

pa

ct to in

form

futu

re p

ractice

. We

also

ackn

ow

led

ge

tha

t ou

r curre

nt

an

alysis is b

ase

d o

n D

estin

atio

n o

f Lea

vers fro

m H

igh

er E

du

catio

n d

ata

an

d th

at n

ew

lon

gitu

din

al d

ata

will b

e co

min

g o

n stre

am

du

ring

the

time

spa

n o

f this

pla

n w

hich

ma

y alte

r sign

ifican

tly ou

r con

clusio

ns a

nd

prio

ritisatio

n. W

e h

ave

the

refo

re se

t a ta

rge

t in re

latio

n to

gra

du

ate

de

stina

tion

s six mo

nth

s afte

r

gra

du

atio

n, b

ut w

he

n n

ew

da

ta is a

vaila

ble

wo

uld

see

k gu

ida

nce

from

the

OfS

ab

ou

t wh

eth

er it m

ay b

e a

pp

rop

riate

to re

con

side

r this m

ea

sure

.

3.2.1 Objective 2a: M

inimise the observed gaps in continuation rates betw

een key groups by 2030

Strategic aim

Barriers (underpinning research and assum

ptions)

Planned activities to deliver (programm

es of w

ork) Evaluation m

ethodology Activity outputs

Anticipated outcomes

(linked to targets: PTS1; PTS2; PTS3; PTS4)

Share and learn

2. Address the causes of observable gaps in success and

progression for key groups

Foste

ring

a se

nse

of b

elo

ng

ing

lies a

t the

he

art o

f rete

ntio

n

an

d su

ccess 1

8.

Th

e e

vide

nce

sug

ge

sts tha

t

rete

ntio

n a

nd

succe

ss are

be

st

ad

dre

ssed

by a

pp

roa

che

s wh

ich

see

k to d

eve

lop

: sup

po

rtive

pe

er re

latio

ns; m

ea

nin

gfu

l

inte

ractio

n b

etw

ee

n sta

ff an

d

stud

en

ts; kno

wle

dg

e,

con

fide

nce

an

d id

en

tity as

1. Transition and Year 1

a.

Co

ntin

ue

imp

rove

me

nts in

ou

r wo

rk with

scho

ols a

nd

colle

ge

s to p

rep

are

an

d

sup

po

rt ou

r ow

n o

ffer-h

old

ers a

nd

the

ir

pe

ers a

bo

ut th

e m

ove

to U

nive

rsity e.g

.

via d

elive

ry of skills, in

form

atio

n a

nd

oth

er re

leva

nt se

ssion

s.

b.

De

velo

pm

en

t an

d d

elive

ry of a

cad

em

ic

skills sessio

ns in

targ

et sch

oo

ls to

sup

po

rt pre

pa

red

ne

ss for H

E. T

his a

ims

to p

ilot a

pp

roa

che

s an

d w

ill be

led

by a

Pre

an

d p

ost e

ven

t eva

lua

tion

rela

ting

to kn

ow

led

ge

,

con

fide

nce

, pro

pe

nsity to

en

ga

ge

etc; to

be

com

bin

ed

with

trackin

g a

nd

stud

en

t

fee

db

ack a

fter 1

2 m

on

ths.

Typ

e 1

an

d 2

(a, b

, d).

We

b/C

RM

an

alytics

com

bin

ed

with

trackin

g o

f

en

ga

ge

me

nt le

vels. T

ype

1, 2

(c).

Aca

de

mic skills p

ilot

an

d lin

ked

rese

arch

pro

ject d

elive

red

in

pa

rtne

r scho

ols (b

).

Tra

nsitio

n co

nfe

ren

ce /

eve

nts a

nd

sup

po

rt for

Scho

lars a

nd

oth

er ke

y

gro

up

s (c, d, e

)

Ma

ture

stud

en

ts’

aca

de

mic skills

pro

vision

an

d p

re-

Stud

en

ts ha

ve

info

rma

tion

the

y ne

ed

to

op

timise

succe

ssful

tran

sition

.

Stud

en

ts ha

ve

op

po

rtun

ities to

bu

ild

sup

po

rt ne

two

rks.

Un

iversity is b

ette

r ab

le

to a

dd

ress u

nd

erlyin

g

cau

ses o

f no

n-

con

tinu

atio

n.

Ed

uca

tion

Co

nfe

ren

ce;

Ed

uca

tion

com

mitte

e

structu

re;

Exte

rna

l

con

fere

nce

s;

Re

sea

rch

rep

orts;

Te

ach

ing

/

ed

uca

tion

ne

two

rks; TA

SO

17 B

lack

, Asia

n a

nd

min

ority e

thn

ic stud

en

t atta

inm

en

t at U

K u

nive

rsities: #

Clo

sing

the

Ga

p, N

US

an

d U

UK

, 20

19

1

8 Mo

un

tford

-Zim

da

rs, An

na

, Sa

bri, D

un

a, M

oo

re, Jo

an

na

, Sa

nd

ers, Jo

hn

, Jon

es S

teve

n, H

igh

am

, Lou

ise, C

au

ses o

f diffe

ren

ces in

stud

en

t ou

tcom

es, H

EF

CE

, 20

15

.

2

5

succe

ssful H

E le

arn

ers; a

nd

an

HE

exp

erie

nce

tha

t is rele

van

t

to stu

de

nts’ in

tere

sts an

d

futu

re g

oa

ls1

9.

Ke

y tran

sition

po

ints re

qu

ire

pa

rticula

r atte

ntio

n. T

ran

sition

activitie

s sho

uld

be

see

n a

s pa

rt

of a

con

tinu

um

tha

t inclu

de

s

pre

-en

try activitie

s an

d first

yea

r en

ga

ge

me

nt. G

en

eric

fea

ture

s of su

ccessfu

l pre

-en

try

inte

rven

tion

s inclu

de

: pro

vidin

g

info

rma

tion

; info

rmin

g

exp

ecta

tion

s; de

velo

pin

g

aca

de

mic skills; b

uild

ing

socia

l

cap

ital; a

nd

nu

rturin

g a

sen

se

of b

elo

ng

ing

20

Me

nta

l he

alth

issue

s ha

ve a

pa

rticula

rly ne

ga

tive im

pa

ct on

lea

rnin

g a

nd

en

ga

ge

me

nt, w

ith

imp

licatio

ns fo

r rete

ntio

n. 2

1

Inte

rna

l an

alysis w

hich

clea

rly

de

mo

nstra

tes th

e lin

k be

twe

en

first yea

r atta

inm

en

t an

d

de

gre

e o

utco

me

s.

Fina

ncia

l sup

po

rt eva

lua

tion

wh

ich sh

ow

s no

ne

ga

tive

imp

act fo

r tho

se re

ceivin

g th

e

Acce

ss to E

xete

r bu

rsary (A

TE

).

Wid

er re

sea

rch a

nd

litera

ture

in th

is are

a.

pra

ctition

er w

ithin

ou

r Ce

ntre

for So

cial

Mo

bility a

lon

gsid

e p

rofe

ssion

al se

rvices.

c. C

on

tinu

e to

imp

rove

ad

vice a

nd

info

rma

tion

for stu

de

nts w

ith a

dive

rse

ran

ge

of n

ee

ds a

nd

info

rma

tion

req

uire

me

nts th

rou

gh

ou

t the

offe

r stag

e

an

d p

re-re

gistra

tion

sup

po

rted

by

imp

rove

me

nts in

custo

me

r rela

tion

ship

ma

na

ge

me

nt.

d.

Co

ntin

ua

tion

an

d e

nh

an

cem

en

t of

tran

sition

initia

tives ta

rge

ted

at th

ose

gro

up

s of stu

de

nts w

ho

exp

erie

nce

hig

he

r dro

p-o

ut ra

tes (in

clud

ing

care

lea

vers, stu

de

nts w

ith B

TE

Cs, e

stran

ge

d

stud

en

ts an

d ca

rers). P

re-Fre

she

rs

tran

sition

sup

po

rt is a co

re co

mp

on

en

t

of o

ur o

ffer to

ma

ture

stud

en

ts an

d

tho

se o

n fa

ir acce

ss pro

gra

mm

es; a

nd

stud

en

t with

ASD

an

d o

the

r disa

bilitie

s.

e.

Inve

stiga

te a

nd

ad

dre

ss, wh

ere

po

ssible

,

the

pa

ttern

s an

d ca

use

s of e

arly d

rop

-ou

t

rate

s i.e. b

etw

ee

n a

ccep

tan

ce a

nd

De

cem

be

r cen

sus d

ate

, so w

e ca

n

pre

ven

t ea

rly attritio

n (n

ot cu

rren

t

refle

cted

with

in se

ctor-w

ide

con

tinu

atio

n).

f. D

eve

lop

rob

ust in

du

ction

pro

cesse

s for

stud

en

ts to se

t exp

ecta

tion

s; ide

ntify a

nd

plu

g kn

ow

led

ge

/skills ga

ps; a

nd

inte

gra

te

stud

en

t/aca

de

mic co

mm

un

ity. Bu

ildin

g

on

pilo

t pro

jects ru

n th

rou

gh

Tra

nsfo

rmin

g T

ran

sition

s an

d a

pp

roa

che

s

Eva

lua

tion

pro

cesse

s to b

e

bu

ilt in to

pro

ject d

esig

n (e

, f,

g).

arriva

l pe

er p

rog

ram

me

(c, d, e

).

Spe

cific fam

iliarisa

tion

/

pre

pa

ratio

n fo

r stud

en

t

with

ASD

bu

ildin

g o

n

wo

rk do

ne

to d

ate

(c, d,

e).

Structu

red

ind

uctio

n

pro

cesse

s to su

pp

ort

inte

gra

tion

(d).

Stud

en

t ne

ed

s

asse

ssme

nt a

nd

rela

ted

inte

rven

tion

s (g).

Re

view

of first ye

ar

pro

gra

mm

e stru

cture

s

an

d co

re m

od

ule

s via a

be

st pra

ctice

fram

ew

ork (h

).

Hig

he

r leve

ls of

en

ga

ge

me

nt w

ith su

pp

ort

service

s by ke

y gro

up

s.

Scho

ol p

up

ils are

be

tter

pre

pa

red

for p

rog

ressio

n

to H

E.

Stud

en

ts ha

ve a

structu

red

intro

du

ction

to co

re skills a

nd

com

pe

ten

cies th

rou

gh

a

varie

ty of te

ach

ing

/

asse

ssme

nt m

eth

od

s

dra

win

g o

n b

est p

ractice

.

1

9 Mo

un

tford

-Zim

da

rs, An

na

, Sa

bri, D

un

a, M

oo

re, Jo

an

na

, Sa

nd

ers, Jo

hn

, Jon

es S

teve

n, H

igh

am

, Lou

ise, C

au

ses o

f diffe

ren

ces in

stud

en

t ou

tcom

es, H

EF

CE

, 20

15

. 2

0 Mo

ore

, J.; Sa

nd

ers, J.; H

igh

am

, L. Litera

ture

Re

view

of R

ese

arch

into

Wid

en

ing

Pa

rticipa

tion

to H

igh

er E

du

catio

n. 2

01

3.

21 W

ha

t Wo

rks?

Stu

de

nt R

ete

ntio

n a

nd

Su

ccess, H

EA

2

6

trialle

d b

y ou

r Bu

sine

ss Scho

ol a

nd

thro

ug

h o

ur E

du

catio

n In

cub

ato

r.

g.

De

velo

p a

nd

intro

du

ce a

train

ing

ne

ed

s/aca

de

mic skills a

ssessm

en

t

ava

ilab

le to

all stu

de

nts w

ith re

leva

nt

too

ls an

d su

pp

ort to

be

tter p

rep

are

all

stud

en

ts for th

eir stu

die

s, irresp

ective

of

the

ir pre

viou

s ed

uca

tion

al e

xpe

rien

ce

h.

Re

view

an

d d

eve

lop

ou

r first yea

r

pro

vision

to b

ette

r sup

po

rt the

de

velo

pm

en

t of ke

y com

pe

ten

cies.

2. Student financial support

a. M

ain

tain

(an

d co

ntin

ue

to e

valu

ate

) the

Acce

ss

to E

xete

r bu

rsary o

n a

n a

nn

ua

l ba

sis usin

g O

fS

too

lkit.

b. U

se to

olkit to

con

du

ct an

alysis o

f the

ha

rdsh

ip

fun

d a

nd

oth

er re

late

d fu

nd

s to a

ssess im

pa

ct an

d

effica

cy. Pu

ll find

ing

s tog

eth

er in

to a

n a

nn

ua

l

revie

w.

c. Mo

nito

r the

pe

rform

an

ce (a

nd

take

up

of

ha

rdsh

ip fo

r exa

mp

le) o

f the

>£

25

k - <£

42

k gro

up

to ke

ep

ab

rea

st of tre

nd

s wh

ich m

ay re

qu

ire

spe

cific solu

tion

s in th

e fu

ture

d. Sp

ecific re

sea

rch w

ith o

ur stu

de

nt u

nio

ns to

un

de

rstan

d in

terp

lay w

ith p

art-tim

e w

ork a

nd

exp

lore

the

op

tion

s for a

wid

er re

sea

rch p

roje

ct

with

Sou

th W

est in

stitutio

ns.

e. In

vest in

tailo

red

fina

ncia

l sup

po

rt an

d a

dvice

for th

ose

stud

en

ts facin

g p

articu

lar h

ard

ship

an

d

difficu

lty du

e to

the

ir pe

rson

al circu

msta

nce

s, such

as e

stran

ge

me

nt, ca

re e

xpe

rien

ce o

r carin

g

resp

on

sibilitie

s

An

nu

al e

valu

atio

n o

f AT

E,

ha

rdsh

ip fu

nd

an

d o

the

r

fun

ds a

s pa

rt of a

nn

ua

l

revie

w (se

e e

valu

atio

n

strate

gy se

ction

) (a, b

, c).

Spe

cific rese

arch

(type

1 a

nd

2) a

rou

nd

pa

rt-time

wo

rk an

d

stud

y ‘cliff-ed

ge

’ in te

rms o

f

inte

rpla

y with

po

sitive

ou

tcom

es (d

).

Smo

oth

de

livery o

f AT

E

to a

ll elig

ible

at p

oin

t of

en

try to u

nive

rsity (a).

Gre

ate

r

com

mu

nica

tion

s an

d

op

timise

take

-up

of

oth

er fin

an

cial su

pp

ort

esp

ecia

lly ha

rdsh

ip

fun

d a

nd

estra

ng

ed

stud

en

t an

d ca

rers

fun

ds (c).

Gre

ate

r un

de

rstan

din

g

of th

e im

pa

ct inco

me

an

d w

ork h

as o

n

stud

en

t atta

inm

en

t an

d

succe

ss. Fee

din

g th

at

ba

ck into

pra

ctice:

criteria

, pro

cess a

nd

scop

e o

f fina

ncia

l

sup

po

rt pa

ckag

e

wo

rking

with

stud

en

t

un

ion

s(d).

Op

timu

m re

ten

tion

of

stud

en

ts in re

ceip

t of

fina

ncia

l sup

po

rt

Allo

w stu

de

nts to

fully

pa

rticipa

te in

the

we

alth

of o

pp

ortu

nitie

s on

offe

r

to su

pp

ort su

ccess a

nd

pro

gre

ssion

ou

tcom

es

an

d w

ide

r socia

l mo

bility

aim

s

TA

SO, N

ASM

A

2

7

3.2.2: Objective 2b: M

inimise the observed gaps in attainm

ent and achievement of graduate outcom

es between key groups by 2030

2

2 Bla

ck, A

sian

an

d M

ino

rity E

thn

ic Atta

inm

en

t at U

nive

rsities, N

US

an

d U

UK

, 20

19

2

3 Th

om

as L, W

ha

t Wo

rks?

Stu

de

nt R

ete

ntio

n &

Su

ccess S

um

ma

ry Re

po

rt. Lon

do

n: P

au

l Ha

mlyn

Fo

un

da

tion

, He

fce, H

EA

an

d A

ction

on

Acce

ss, 20

12

Strategic aim

Barriers (underpinning research and assum

ptions)

Planned activities to deliver (program

mes of w

ork)

Evaluation m

ethodology Activity outputs

Anticipated outcom

es (linked to targets PTS1; PTS2; PTS3; PTS4; PTP1)

Share and learn

2. Address the causes of observable gaps in success and progression for key groups

Th

e d

esig

n o

f the

curricu

lum

,

its con

ten

t, an

d th

e te

ach

ing

an

d le

arn

ing

pra

ctices u

sed

to

de

liver it ca

n h

ave

a sig

nifica

nt

imp

act o

n th

e w

ay th

at

stud

en

ts from

diffe

ren

t

ba

ckgro

un

ds a

nd

eth

nicitie

s

resp

on

d to

the

ir cou

rse a

nd

lectu

rers a

nd

tuto

rs2

2

Aca

de

mic p

rog

ram

me

s an

d

hig

h-q

ua

lity stud

en

t-cen

tred

lea

rnin

g a

nd

tea

chin

g m

ust b

e

a p

rima

ry focu

s for e

ffective

stud

en

t rete

ntio

n a

nd

succe

ss2

3

Secto

r-wid

e in

crea

se in

nu

mb

ers o

f ap

plica

nts

disclo

sing

me

nta

l he

alth

pro

ble

ms; in

crea

se in

de

ma

nd

for m

en

tal h

ea

lth su

pp

ort a

t

un

iversity; co

mb

ine

d w

ith rise

in co

mp

lexity a

nd

com

orb

idity

of m

en

tal h

ea

lth p

rob

lem

s

1. Curriculum, teaching and educational support

a.

Ad

op

t be

st pra

ctice a

pp

roa

che

s (e.g

. Kin

gsto

n C

urricu

lum

Fram

ew

ork a

nd

UC

L Cu

rriculu

m H

ea

lth C

he

ck) an

d fin

din

gs

of o

ur H

idd

en

Cu

rriculu

m re

sea

rch, to

revie

w a

nd

ad

dre

ss

the

dive

rsity of re

pre

sen

tatio

n w

ithin

ou

r curricu

lum

,

pa

rticula

rly reg

ard

ing

race

an

d e

thn

icity.

b.

De

velo

p syste

mic a

pp

roa

che

s to e

nsu

re o

ur te

ach

ing

me

tho

ds a

re in

clusive

an

d su

pp

ort m

ultip

le le

arn

ing

styles,

takin

g in

to a

ccou

nt a

dive

rse stu

de

nt co

ho

rt with

varie

d

lea

rnin

g n

ee

ds.

c. C

on

solid

ate

imp

rove

me

nts in

ou

r structu

red

pe

rson

al

tuto

ring

system

an

d p

ractice

s, sup

po

rted

by le

arn

ing

an

alytics to

en

sure

stud

en

ts rece

ive e

arly a

nd

ap

pro

pria

te

inte

rven

tion

s.

d.

Be

tter u

nd

ersta

nd

the

rela

tion

ship

be

twe

en

en

ga

ge

me

nt

with

lea

rnin

g a

nd

sup

po

rt, atta

inm

en

t an

d n

on

-

con

tinu

atio

n, to

he

lp fo

rmu

late

ap

pro

pria

te in

terve

ntio

ns,

esp

ecia

lly for ke

y gro

up

s exp

erie

ncin

g g

ap

s in o

utco

me

s.

e.

Co

ntin

ue

to re

sea

rch a

nd

ad

op

t be

st pra

ctice a

pp

roa

che

s

to su

pp

ort a

dive

rse le

arn

ing

com

mu

nity th

rou

gh

ou

r

Spe

cific eva

lua

tion

ap

pro

ach

es w

ill be

pu

t

in p

lace

to su

pp

ort

ou

r pla

ns to

sup

po

rt

BA

ME

atta

inm

en

t

inclu

din

g m

on

itorin

g,

qu

alita

tive a

nd

qu

an

titative

me

asu

res. T

ype

1 a

nd

2 (a

, b, c, d

, e, g

).

Pro

cess o

f curricu

lum

revie

w (a

).

Inte

gra

tion

of

pra

ctice w

ithin

TQ

A

an

d m

od

ule

revie

w

an

d a

pp

rova

l to

crea

te su

stain

ab

le

ap

pro

ach

es (b

).

Be

st pra

ctice

fram

ew

ork fo

r

pro

gra

mm

e a

nd

mo

du

le

en

ha

nce

me

nt (b

).

Tra

inin

g, to

olkit,

en

ga

ge

me

nt to

pro

mu

lga

te in

clusive

tea

chin

g (c, d

).

Co

ntin

ue

d

de

velo

pm

en

t of M

y

Pro

gre

ss an

d

asso

ciate

d p

erso

na

l

tuto

ring

sup

po

rt

Stud

en

ts can

fully

en

ga

ge

with

a

curricu

lum

wh

ich

the

y pe

rceive

the

curricu

lum

as

rele

van

t to th

em

.

All stu

de

nts b

en

efit

from

a cu

rriculu

m

wh

ich e

nco

ura

ge

s

disco

urse

s on

dive

rsity.

Hig

he

r leve

ls of

en

ga

ge

me

nt w

ith

pe

rson

al tu

torin

g

system

.

Stud

en

ts ha

ve th

e

skills the

y ne

ed

to

exce

l in th

eir

stud

ies.

Be

tter e

ng

ag

em

en

t

with

lea

rnin

g a

nd

rela

ted

sup

po

rt by

Ed

uca

tion

Co

nfe

ren

ce;

TA

SO;

NE

ON

;

HE

LOA

;

NU

S

2

8

24 ‘U

nd

ersta

nd

ing

pro

vision

for stu

de

nts w

ith m

en

tal h

ea

lth p

rob

lem

s an

d in

ten

sive su

pp

ort n

ee

ds’ H

EF

CE

July 2

01

5)

25 T

ho

ma

s, Liz an

d Jo

ne

s, Ro

be

rt, Em

be

dd

ing

em

plo

ya

bility

in th

e co

nte

xt of w

ide

nin

g p

articip

atio

n, T

he

Hig

he

r Ed

uca

tion

Aca

de

my

, 20

0

26 R

icha

rds, N

ad

ine

, Low

e, R

osa

lind

an

d H

an

ks, C

atrio

na

, Go

ne

inte

rna

tion

al: m

ob

ility w

ork

s 20

14

-15

, Go

Inte

rna

tion

al a

nd

Un

iversitie

s UK

Inte

rna

tion

al, 2

01

7

alo

ng

side

oth

er im

pa

irme

nts.

24

Th

e cu

rriculu

m sh

ou

ld a

dd

ress

the

em

plo

yab

ility of stu

de

nts

from

un

de

r- rep

rese

nte

d

gro

up

s in fo

ur w

ays:

aw

are

ne

ss; acce

ss to re

leva

nt

wo

rk exp

erie

nce

; con

fide

nce

,

self-e

stee

m a

nd

asp

iratio

n o

f;

an

d fa

milia

rity with

the

lab

ou

r

ma

rket p

lus re

late

d skills

25

Co

rrela

tion

be

twe

en

ou

twa

rd

mo

bility a

nd

imp

rove

d

aca

de

mic a

nd

em

plo

yme

nt

ou

tcom

es; p

articu

larly fo

r

disa

dva

nta

ge

d a

nd

bla

ck an

d

min

ority e

thn

ic stud

en

ts, wh

o

are

un

de

rrep

rese

nte

d in

mo

bility

26

Ed

uca

tion

Incu

ba

tor.

f. C

on

tinu

e to

imp

rove

ad

vice a

nd

info

rma

tion

ava

ilab

le fo

r

aca

de

mic a

nd

pro

fessio

na

l service

s staff to

en

ab

le th

em

to

sign

po

st rele

van

t service

s an

d in

terve

ntio

ns to

sup

po

rt

stud

en

ts in ke

y gro

up

s.

g.

Co

nso

lida

te o

ur a

pp

roa

ch to

imp

rovin

g th

e a

ccessib

ility of

ed

uca

tion

al a

nd

aca

de

mic su

pp

ort e

.g. via

ou

r stud

en

t

hu

bs a

nd

Stud

y Zo

ne

initia

tives.

Ta

ilore

d a

cad

em

ic

skills sup

po

rt an

d

pro

vision

(c, d).

Stud

y Zo

ne

an

d

rela

ted

initia

tives to

imp

rove

acce

ssibility

of a

cad

em

ic skills

sup

po

rt (g).

tho

se stu

de

nts w

ho

ne

ed

sup

po

rt the

mo

st.

2. Wellbeing and student support

a.

De

velo

p w

ho

le in

stitutio

n a

pp

roa

ch to

we

llbe

ing

to

red

uce

cau

satio

n fa

ctors a

nd

bu

ild re

silien

ce a

cross

imp

airm

en

t type

an

d th

e stu

de

nt life

cycle, in

clud

ing

pre

-en

try wh

ere

po

ssible

. To

be

imp

lem

en

ted

thro

ug

h a

ne

w W

ellb

ein

g Stra

teg

y an

d

imp

lem

en

tatio

n fra

me

wo

rk to b

e la

un

che

d in

20

20

.

b.

Eva

lua

te a

nd

con

solid

ate

ou

r ap

pro

ach

es to

pe

er

sup

po

rt ba

sed

on

the

con

side

rab

le b

est p

ractice

de

velo

pe

d to

da

te in

clud

ing

ou

r effe

ctive b

rea

kfast

club

pro

gra

mm

e.

Typ

e 1

to b

e p

ut in

pla

ce w

ith sp

ecific

pro

jects to

be

eva

lua

ted

via typ

e 2

.

Imp

lem

en

tatio

n o

f

We

llbe

ing

actio

n p

lan

(a)

Effe

ctive p

ee

r

sup

po

rt pro

gra

mm

es

in p

lace

for ke

y

stud

en

t gro

up

s an

d

discip

line

s as

ap

pro

pria

te (e

.g.

ma

ture

stud

en

ts) (b).

3. Progression, employability and international

experience

a.

Stren

gth

en

eva

lua

tion

of o

ur e

mp

loya

bility a

nd

inte

rnsh

ips su

pp

ort fo

r key g

rou

ps to

be

tter

un

de

rstan

d co

ntrib

utio

n to

sho

rt-term

an

d

lon

gitu

din

al g

rad

ua

te o

utco

me

s.

b.

Sub

sidise

inte

rnsh

ips a

nd

rela

ted

me

asu

res fo

r

stud

en

ts me

etin

g sp

ecific h

ou

seh

old

inco

me

an

d

Aim

to e

nh

an

ce

curre

nt m

on

itorin

g

ap

pro

ach

es to

type

1

an

d 2

for so

me

pro

gra

mm

es (a

, b, c,

d, e

)

Up

Re

ach

ow

n

eva

lua

tion

fram

ew

ork

an

d a

ssocia

ted

Sub

sidise

d

pla

cem

en

ts for

stud

en

ts me

etin

g

prio

rity WP

criteria

on

A2

I, Glo

ba

l

Lea

de

rs, an

d

Pro

fessio

na

l

pa

thw

ays

pro

gra

mm

es (a

).

Stud

en

ts ha

ve

acce

ss to a

ran

ge

of

inte

rnsh

ip a

nd

wo

rk exp

erie

nce

op

po

rtun

ities.

Stud

en

ts are

ab

le

to e

ng

ag

e w

ith a

varie

ty of

TA

SO; A

GC

AS;

Re

gio

na

l

foru

m

2

9

3.3 Enable an inclusive University culture w

here all can fulfil their potential

Th

ere

is on

e u

nitin

g th

em

e w

hich

un

de

rpin

s all o

ur stra

teg

ic me

asu

res to

sup

po

rt acce

ss, succe

ss an

d p

rog

ressio

n: in

clusio

n. W

e w

ill no

t attra

ct stud

en

ts

un

less th

ey fe

el w

elco

me

; we

will n

ot re

tain

the

m u

nle

ss the

y fee

l the

y be

lon

g; a

nd

the

y will n

ot re

alise

the

ir po

ten

tial, u

nle

ss the

y are

fully n

urtu

red

to d

o

so. W

e h

ave

set th

is as a

spe

cific ob

jective

, to g

ive it th

e p

rom

ine

nce

it req

uire

s as a

n a

ction

in sig

na

lling

ou

r inte

nt a

nd

the

imp

orta

nce

we

pla

ce o

n th

is,

no

t just a

s a m

ea

ns to

an

en

d b

ut b

eca

use

of th

e stre

ng

th o

f stud

en

t an

d sta

ff com

mitm

en

t to b

e a

truly in

clusive

institu

tion

wh

ere

all a

re w

elco

me

an

d ca

n

thrive

. Fo

r the

pu

rpo

ses o

f this p

lan

, it is difficu

lt to d

isag

gre

ga

te th

e sig

nifica

nt p

rog

ram

me

of w

ork to

sup

po

rt eq

ua

lity, dive

rsity an

d in

clusio

n, le

d b

y ou

r

Pro

vost C

om

missio

n a

nd

inclu

sivity structu

res, fo

r the

be

ne

fit of a

ll stud

en

ts, to th

ose

me

asu

res w

hich

will sp

ecifica

lly he

lp a

dd

ress o

bse

rvab

le g

ap

s in

stud

en

t ou

tcom

es. A

s with

we

llbe

ing

, this is a

cross-cu

tting

me

asu

re a

ffectin

g a

ll. Fo

r the

pu

rpo

se o

f this p

lan

, we signal our com

mitm

ent to wide scale

programm

es of change including those, such as working to achieve the Race Equality Charter, w

hich

will e

nta

il revie

ws o

f ou

r staffin

g p

ractice

s an

d

po

licies, tra

inin

g, re

po

rting

pro

ced

ure

s. Th

ese

are

no

t cove

red

in a

ny d

eta

il in th

is pla

n –

bu

t are

rele

van

t to e

veryth

ing

we

are

trying

to a

chie

ve a

nd

we

are

the

refo

re in

com

ple

te a

lign

me

nt w

ith th

e u

nive

rsity’s ne

w E

DI stra

teg

y an

d a

ssocia

ted

wo

rk strea

ms a

nd

op

era

tion

al d

eta

il. Inste

ad

we

ha

ve in

clud

ed

spe

cific me

asu

res w

hich

fall m

ore

na

rrow

ly un

de

r the

rem

it of o

ur so

cial m

ob

ility go

vern

an

ce n

am

ely 1

) analysis and research to better understand the

experiences of key groups within the U

niversity to inform strategies and decision m

aking in re

latio

n to

inclu

sive p

ractice

an

d 2

) spe

cific initiatives designed to support students w

ith protected characteristics ba

sed

on

secto

r-rese

arch

an

d g

oo

d p

ractice

.

oth

er g

rou

ps a

s ap

pro

pria

te b

ase

d o

n o

bse

rvab

le

ga

ps in

pro

gre

ssion

.

c. B

esp

oke

em

plo

yab

ility con

sulta

ncy fo

r stud

en

ts

with

in p

riority g

rou

ps to

sup

ple

me

nt o

ur fu

ll ran

ge

of

em

plo

yab

ility pro

vision

.

d.

Exp

lore

an

d d

eve

lop

alte

rna

tives to

trad

ition

al fie

ld

trip a

nd

stud

y ab

roa

d fo

rma

ts (e.g

. thro

ug

h e

me

rgin

g

tech

no

log

ies) to

imp

rove

acce

ssibility fo

r an

d

en

ga

ge

me

nt b

y stud

en

ts wh

ose

pe

rson

al

circum

stan

ces m

ay p

roh

ibit e

ng

ag

em

en

t with

the

se

op

tion

al b

ut e

nrich

ing

exp

erie

nce

s.

e.

Re

sea

rch a

nd

an

alysis to

be

tter u

nd

ersta

nd

the

ba

rriers fa

ced

by stu

de

nts fro

m lo

w in

com

e

ho

use

ho

lds to

info

rm re

late

d stra

teg

ies a

nd

inte

rven

tion

s.

rep

ortin

g stru

cture

.

Typ

e 1

.

Inte

nsive

em

plo

yab

ility sup

po

rt

via R

ise in

itiative

run

thro

ug

h o

ur

pa

rtne

rship

with

Up

Re

ach

(a, b

).

Inte

nsive

em

plo

yab

ility sup

po

rt

for ke

y gro

up

s

thro

ug

h 1

:1

con

sulta

ncy (c).

Re

sea

rch fin

din

gs a

nd

rela

ted

me

asu

res

inte

rna

tion

al

exp

erie

nce

s.

Stud

en

ts ha

ve

acce

ss to e

mp

loye

r

ne

two

rks to b

uild

socia

l cap

ital.

Stud

en

ts acq

uire

wo

rk skills thro

ug

h

the

curricu

lum

.

Stud

en

ts pro

gre

ss

at e

qu

al ra

tes in

to

po

stgra

du

ate

stud

y.

3

0

Strategic aim

Barriers (underpinning research and assum

ptions)

Planned activities to deliver (program

mes of w

ork)

Evaluation m

ethodology Activity outputs

Anticipated outcom

es (linked to all targets PTA1-5; PTS1-4 and PTP1)

Share and learn

3. Enable an inclusive University culture where all can fulfil their potential

Succe

ss in re

du

cing

diffe

ren

tials lin

ks to

institu

tion

s’ willin

gn

ess a

nd

cap

acity to

be

mo

re in

clusive

.

Po

sitive in

terve

ntio

ns in

clud

e

crea

ting

a se

nse

of b

elo

ng

ing

,

bu

ildin

g so

cial ca

pita

l,

en

ha

ncin

g th

e stu

de

nt

exp

erie

nce

, an

d d

eve

lop

ing

mo

re w

ide

-ran

gin

g le

arn

ing

an

d te

ach

ing

initia

tives

27

Th

e cu

lture

of a

n in

stitutio

n is

ide

ntifie

d a

s an

imp

orta

nt

facto

r in re

latio

n

to th

e a

ttain

me

nt o

f stud

en

ts

from

BA

ME

ba

ckgro

un

ds, a

nd

ha

s a stro

ng

asso

ciatio

n w

ith

stud

en

ts’ sen

se o

f be

lon

gin

g.

Cru

cially, th

is inclu

de

s an

aw

are

ne

ss of th

e issu

es

affe

cting

stud

en

ts from

diffe

ren

t eth

nic b

ackg

rou

nd

s.

Ta

king

into

acco

un

t ne

w

rese

arch

as it e

me

rge

s e.g

.

UU

K/N

US re

po

rt 20

19

. 28

1. Students with protected characteristics / disrupted

education

a.

Wo

rk effe

ctively a

cross th

e o

rga

nisa

tion

to e

nsu

re jo

ine

d

up

pra

ctices a

nd

po

licies to

pro

vide

a w

ho

le stu

de

nt

jou

rne

y ap

pro

ach

to su

pp

ortin

g stu

de

nts w

ith p

rote

cted

cha

racte

ristics. Th

is will b

e d

riven

thro

ug

h o

ur so

cial

mo

bility stru

cture

s in co

nsu

ltatio

n w

ith stu

de

nt g

rou

ps.

b.

Re

sea

rch a

nd

con

sulta

tion

to b

ette

r un

de

rstan

d th

e

exp

erie

nce

s of stu

de

nts w

ith sp

ecific ch

ara

cteristics w

ithin

ou

r Un

iversity to

he

lp co

-crea

te im

pro

vem

en

ts to o

ur

pra

ctices to

en

sure

the

y are

fully in

clusive

.

c. C

on

tinu

ed

an

d e

nh

an

ced

pro

vision

of a

dvice

, pra

ctical a

nd

fina

ncia

l sup

po

rt for sp

ecific g

rou

ps o

f stud

en

ts facin

g

com

ple

x cha

llen

ge

s inclu

din

g ca

re le

ave

rs, stud

en

t care

rs,

estra

ng

ed

stud

en

ts an

d a

sylum

see

kers.

Mo

nito

ring

an

d

qu

alita

tive

fee

db

ack.

Mo

nito

ring

an

d

use

r imp

act

eva

lua

tion

. Typ

e 1

,

2

Imp

lem

en

tatio

n o

f

sup

po

rt me

asu

res in

resp

on

se to

con

sulta

tion

(a).

Join

ed

up

pro

vision

acro

ss Un

iversity

service

s an

d stu

de

nt

un

ion

s’ stud

en

t

sup

po

rt (c).

Spe

cific sup

po

rt

pa

ckag

es fo

r stud

en

ts

with

com

ple

x ne

ed

s

(c).

Stud

en

ts are

fully

sup

po

rted

thro

ug

ho

ut th

eir

time

at U

nive

rsity.

Stud

en

ts with

no

fam

ily sup

po

rt are

ab

le to

acce

ss a

hig

he

r leve

l of

sup

po

rt from

the

Un

iversity to

he

lp

the

m re

alise

the

ir

po

ten

tial

Re

gio

na

l

ne

two

rks;

Disse

min

atio

n o

f

be

st pra

ctice

Staff a

nd

stud

en

t

ne

two

rks an

d

con

sulta

tion

;

TA

SO

2. Inclusive institutional and student culture and practices

a.

Furth

er a

na

lysis to fu

lly un

de

rstan

d th

e p

icture

of

atta

inm

en

t for o

ur B

AM

E stu

de

nts to

info

rm a

larg

er w

ork

pla

n. W

ork w

ith stu

de

nts a

nd

staff to

ide

ntify a

nd

ad

dre

ss

ba

rriers th

rou

gh

an

evid

en

ce-b

ase

d ch

an

ge

pro

gra

mm

e

with

in a

go

od

pra

ctice fra

me

wo

rk to a

chie

ve a

nd

/or

ma

inta

in e

xtern

ally a

ud

ited

en

do

rsem

en

ts of its in

clusive

pra

ctices e

.g. R

ace

Eq

ua

lity Ch

arte

r; Ath

en

a Sw

an

Go

ld;

Me

nta

l He

alth

Ch

arte

r; Tw

o T

icks Sche

me

.

Re

view

of th

e w

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32

4. Evaluation

4.1 Our self-assessment of evaluation We have had some type 1 and 2 evaluations in place for our programmes for some time such as our Exeter Scholars programme which has yielded some useful insights, and had started implementing the recommendations of OFFA’s ‘standards of evaluation’. We regularly take account of and take up opportunities to contribute to the national evidence base and policy narratives (e.g. performance of BTEC students, BAME attainment gap, contextual admissions, Care Leavers’ Quality Mark etc). We have found the evaluation self-assessment process very useful and timely. It has helped us to clearly identify the areas where we are more secure and those requiring further improvement. It is clear from scoring we have most elements of the five dimensions in place and are ‘emerging’ in our practice, but they are not comprehensive across all areas. The self-assessment has informed the action plan below and we will re-assess annually with the aim of becoming secure across most dimensions of the assessment by 2025. The action plan summarises ‘emerging practice’ drawn from the five dimensions so we can easily identify the work streams which require immediate action. All are concerned with building and securing the capacity and processes of the university so we are robustly evaluating our work across Access, Success and Progression to achieve continuous improvement and, crucially, ensure we deliver on our objectives. 4.2 Key actions for 2020-2025

1. Awareness raising

a. Share self-assessment findings and evaluation strategy with all relevant internal groups b. Specific engagement with Programme managers and Heads of Service to ensure

commitment to evaluation is in place across all APP activities. 2. Governance and management mechanisms

a. Establish evaluation governance as part of our wider WP governance framework so that we create the time and expertise for this group to: Ø oversee and receive updates on planned evaluation and progress of projects in train Ø provide challenge and accountability as part of an annual cycle of review

b. Establish a reporting mechanism through all teams and their associated programmes upwards into [said] WP Governance

c. Build a systematic annual review cycle clearly aligned to WP governance structure to allow teams to plan their evaluation and reporting points effectively.

3. Planning processes

a. Develop an evaluation specification template for all to use, to include: Ø enable opportunity to reflect existing literature (research base for project and

evaluation) Ø identify objectives, deliverables and outputs/outcomes for the work linked to the

overarching Theory of Change presented in the plan Ø list evaluation resources (in place and required) Ø provide a project plan for evaluation with key reporting dates Ø Plan for dissemination, learning from and sharing evaluation findings Ø Risk analysis and mitigation

b. Ensure this process links in with governance group - sounding board and challenge c. Navigate challenge of bringing in ‘new’ evaluation to existing programmes - prioritise

programmes to build evaluation into to get preliminary results and build momentum. 4. Skillsets and training

a. Conduct an evaluation skills audit across Access, Success and Progression Professional Service colleagues

b. Utilise the expertise/resources/tools within the Centre for Social Mobility as part of a co-ordinated package of support

c. Make available training and support for colleagues e.g. with completing the evaluation specification template and knowledge of research design techniques (and limitations of different methodological approaches).

33

5. Resources a. Assess and build in evaluation costs as part of programme budgets b. Ensure colleagues have access to online resources/toolkit to support them

6. Ethics and data sharing protocols

a. Establish an ethical approvals process for APP evaluation b. Review and amend our institutional approach to data approvals, tracking and research

as part of a new ethics approach for both evaluation and programme delivery 7. Data systems a. Review and improve data tracking systems (over time) especially for Success and

Progression programmes (look at utilising HEAT or other internal systems) b. Develop and provide training for programme managers around quantitative data

techniques where the skills audit show this is lacking 8.Dissemination of evaluation findings

a. Continue to utilise opportunities to share findings internally (via teams and governance structure) as well as with a wider internal audience e.g. Centre for Social Mobility conferences/workshops, Education conference etc

b. Use Centre for Social Mobility and other connections to share findings externally e.g. using member organisations such AGCAS, NEON, HELOA, AMOSSHE

c. Establish 1) an internal process (via governance structure) to distribute University of Exeter evaluation findings up to TASO 2) receive and distribute relevant resources from TASO to relevant academic and professional service staff within the university.

4.3 Evaluation of financial support We have used the OfS financial support toolkit for the past two years to conduct an annual review and evaluation of the impact and efficacy of our main financial support package, the Access to Exeter bursary (ATE) awarded to students with household incomes under £25,000. The evaluation has consistently shown the ATE package is ‘about right’ in terms of design, reach to target students, student success outcomes and interplay with other considerations such as part-time work. As such the ATE will remain largely unchanged. The evaluation is overseen by our APP Management group and over the reporting period 2020-2025 we are committed to the following actions:

1. Annual evaluation of the ATE, our hardship fund, excellence scholarship and (as it grows in scale) the estranged students and carers fund using the toolkit. Amalgamate individual findings together into an annual review which can be the catalyst for further refinement.

2. Continue to monitor the outcomes and understand more fully the economic considerations and challenges affecting students in the >£25,000 - £42,000 (SLC ‘low household income threshold’) group (which will have an impact on our understanding of the barriers facing successful outcomes for this group).

3. Engage in research to understand the interplay between student studies, social and

wellbeing factors and part-time work (where evidence suggests there may be a ‘cliff-edge’ where work over eight hours a week may negatively affect success) and work with partners including the Student Guild and the Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union to review and revise our part-time policy accordingly.

4.4 Our collaborative approach We value opportunities to work collaboratively as demonstrated by our 2018 launch and ongoing investment in our Centre for Social Mobility29, which gives us opportunities to both utilise and shape the academic discourse in this area aided by leading subject experts such as our Director (Research) 29 https://www.exeter.ac.uk/socialmobility/

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Associate Professor Anna Mountford-Zimdars and Professor of Social Mobility Practice, Lee Elliott-Major. Within the period of this plan, our commitment and ambition for the Centre will see us:

1. Engage in meaningful, practical and countable research outputs which will help us in delivering against our targets as well benefit the academic and practitioner community (via scholarly publications, the TASO and dissemination events).

2. Employ the expertise of academic colleagues especially around shaping approaches to large challenges, such as our work to address our Black attainment gap, and in helping to ensure staff are trained and confident in research methodologies (as identified in our self-assessment action plan above).

3. Help us to become regionally and sector-leading in our approach to academic and practitioner collaboration, ensuring that our research helps us to deliver impactful work to deliver against national challenges. We are passionate about providing opportunities for practitioners to come together to co-learn and co-create solutions and we will be doing this firstly at a regional level with national opportunities to follow later in the reporting period.

4.5 Evaluation strategy: This plan presents a step-change in embedding evaluation as part of our approach to access and participation. Under section 3 we have presented suggested types of evaluation for our major packages of work as part of a Theory of Change framework which reflect both evaluation programmes in train and those which will come on board, including ideas for further research in conjunction with our Centre for Social Mobility. We are committed to robust evaluation and continuous improvement and are motivated by the potential our findings will have in refining our own and sector practice to benefit students more widely. We look forward to engaging with the wider research and evaluation base via the TASO (EIX) and we are excited about the potential our own Centre for Social Mobility has to contribute to and help shape our national debate and evidence base. To these ends our evaluation strategy is built around delivering these four pillars:

1.Deliver the action plan identified via our self-assessment. Build our

capacity, skills and processes across the 8 identified areas to becoming secure across most

dimensions by 2025

2. Continue to evaluate the impact of our financial support

packages to ensure they are delivering their objectives

3. Deliver our aims around collaborative evaluation activity

especially realising the full potential of our Centre for Social Mobility

4. Ensure that evaluation activity, as identified in our Section 3

(strategic measures section) is delivered and shared to enable us to meet the aims, objectives and

targets identified in this plan

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5. Student consultation

We have engaged with students during the development of this plan and the Success for All strand of our aligned Education Strategy 2020. Our Student Guild in Devon and Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union in Cornwall have been represented at each stage of development via our governance and committee structures for social mobility, education and race equality. In addition, we have run a series of consultation sessions with students at our Streatham and Penryn campuses and students have been involved in a number of working groups involved in developing the Education Strategy. Students have had the opportunity to make their views known via various online forums. In addition, we have taken into account the findings of student surveys and focus groups relating to various aspects of the student journey; specific research into financial support; and informal feedback from specific student groups involved in the Provost Commission, and policy development groups considering provision for estranged students, carers and mature students. We have taken the opportunity to engage with external consultations such as the NUS round table events on the attainment of Black students.

Our engagement with students has informed our thinking and interventions within this plan, for example:

• guiding our thinking around diversity and inclusion and how to engage students in working to build an inclusive student culture

• co-developing research around student engagement with enrichment opportunities and the interaction with part-time work

• reaching a wider base of students via a student panel to align with our Guild Equalities Council

• reviewing access to hardship funds • improved communication and signposting about support and facilities available to key

student groups • investigating different approaches at our shared campus in Cornwall, due to differences in

culture, student make-up and logistics

Students will continue to be involved via our governance structures and specific consultations and research where we have a number of specific initiatives and project planned. In particular we intend a series of research projects to better understand and address the obstacles faced by students with particular characteristics within our own university and local context, such as the interaction of part-time work and study and lifestyle with attainment and outcomes as well as the take up of opportunities across the institution including student representation, societies and success and progression initiatives. We also plan to enhance the opportunities to capture student voice by setting up a student panel, drawn from across the student body and act as a platform for feedback, support and challenge on our policies and initiatives; a forum for related training, development and data sharing; and where new ideas and research can be co-developed and disseminated.

36

6. Governance

Oversight for the University’s Social Mobility agenda is provided through our governing body, Council, and particularly by our lead independent member for Education, who provides scrutiny through our Dual Assurance governance process. Due to the priority given to this area by Council, members engaged in a ‘deep dive’ exercise in July 2018, providing robust scrutiny and challenge of our activities. The Dual Assurance (Education) group have maintained a close, ongoing focus on this area since, with regular reporting to Council. We expect to maintain this level of engagement throughout the lifetime of this plan. In terms of delivery, the University’s Social Mobility Strategy Group (led by our DVC Education) brings senior academic, professional services and student representatives together to provide senior leadership across outreach, access, student success, progression and research. An Access and Participation Plan Management Group provides the operational arm, driving the implementation and monitoring of our plan across the institution and reports in to the Strategy Group. Both bodies include student representation. A further group exists at practitioner level within our Education and Student Services Directorate, which shares best practice with a focus on success and progression. Our academic college forums, chaired by Directors of Education, shape and implement activity at discipline level as part of a joined up and consistent plan of action across the University to deliver the Access and Participation Plan and report into College Executive and/or Education Committees. These forums are facilitated by members of our widening participation team assigned to each College. This team is managed by our Head of Widening Participation and UK Student Recruitment, who is the consistent thread across our social mobility governance structure and is Director (Practice) of the Centre for Social Mobility. 7. Monitoring our performance

In addition to our specific governance structure for social mobility, targets and associated performance are monitored via our performance management and education governance structures including Teaching Excellence Monitoring meetings, which scrutinise differential performance at discipline level. We are also developing new business intelligence tools and related dashboards so progress can be monitored at a discipline, College and institutional level as business as usual. Implementation and monitoring will be assisted via a full operational plan with key milestones and related performance measures, reporting through associated governance structures, with final reporting and accountability through the Vice Chancellors’ Executive Group, Senate and Council. This plan details where we are committed to undertaking annual reviews of initiatives (e.g. Exeter Scholars, financial support package) which will be taken to our governance groups as part of an annual cycle of review.

8. Provision of information to students

The University will provide clear and accurate information about fees, funding and admissions practice via a variety of channels including: our prospectus; our Undergraduate Study and Student Finance websites; direct communications via our Admissions and Student Recruitment teams; face-to-face communications at HE fairs, pre-applicant open days, offer-holder open days and other

Access and Participation Plan Statement of Support from the Students’ Unions of the University The Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union and University of Exeter Students’ Guild. “The Students’ Unions of the University have been a critical part of the thinking and preparation and are entirely in support of this plan and have been fully engaged in the process of creating it. We feel that the plan addresses the critical actions that the University must take to ensure that it continues to address the inequalities that exist within the current student community and provide that future students can truly explore their potential at Exeter. We are under no illusions on the size of the challenge and are committed to working in partnership with the University and play our part to ensure that the full student life-cycle is designed to help all students make the most of their time at Exeter. We are particularly focused on creating greater synergy between the formal and informal education spaces, celebrating the individual and collective voices of our members, thereby ensuring they feel that they truly belong at the University of Exeter. Additionally, as Students’ Unions we are keen to work with the University to provide the student voice on the delivery of the plan and ensure that students are embedded throughout the process to ensure the creation of initiatives that support the needs of our membership. “

37

events including finance workshops and advice surgeries in schools; enquiry handling through our Admissions and Student Finance teams; publication of key information sets; presentations and online resources for teachers. We will also be providing more targeted information for students and parents via our customer relationship platform and via social media tools including Facebook Live events and digital ambassadors. We will continue to provide and improve targeted information through appropriate channels and formats for specific disadvantaged and under-represented groups to encourage engagement in outreach, provide tailored information through the application process and to optimise take-up of support, advice and opportunities during their studies. Information is available to students via our Student Information Desk and student hubs which have improved access to education support. We will continue to work with our student unions to provide financial and related support and a frontline advice service for students. We have improved information provision for students meeting a variety of WP criteria online and also set up systems and processes to advise specific students groups including those who are estranged from their families or who have caring responsibilities. Improving our communications is very much a priority for us and we plan further work to understand how we can improve student engagement in the wide range of support available to help individuals realise their potential.

Access and participation plan Provider name: University of Exeter

Provider UKPRN: 10007792

*course type not listed

Inflationary statement:

Table 4a - Full-time course fee levels for 2020-21 entrants

Full-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree £9,250

First degree BMBS Cohort 5 £9,250

Foundation degree * *

Foundation year/Year 0 * *

HNC/HND * *

CertHE/DipHE * *

Postgraduate ITT £9,250

Accelerated degree * *

Sandwich year £1,850

Erasmus and overseas study years £1,385

Other * *

Table 4b - Sub-contractual full-time course fee levels for 2020-21 entrants

Sub-contractual full-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree * *

Foundation degree * *

Foundation year/Year 0 * *

HNC/HND * *

CertHE/DipHE * *

Postgraduate ITT * *

Accelerated degree * *

Sandwich year * *

Erasmus and overseas study years * *

Other * *

Table 4c - Part-time course fee levels for 2020-21 entrants

Part-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree * *

Foundation degree * *

Foundation year/Year 0 * *

HNC/HND * *

CertHE/DipHE * *

Postgraduate ITT * *

Accelerated degree * *

Sandwich year * *

Erasmus and overseas study years * *

Other * *

Table 4d - Sub-contractual part-time course fee levels for 2020-21 entrants

Sub-contractual part-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree * *

Foundation degree * *

Foundation year/Year 0 * *

HNC/HND * *

CertHE/DipHE * *

Postgraduate ITT * *

Accelerated degree * *

Sandwich year * *

Erasmus and overseas study years * *

Other * *

Fee information 2020-21

Summary of 2020-21 entrant course fees

Subject to the maximum fee limits set out in Regulations we intend to increase fees each year using the RPI-X

Targets and investment plan Provider name: University of Exeter

2020-21 to 2024-25 Provider UKPRN: 10007792

Investment summary

Table 4a - Investment summary (£)

2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25

£4,468,538.25 £4,508,242.20 £4,575,155.85 £4,575,155.85 £4,575,155.85

£1,787,415.30 £1,803,296.88 £1,830,062.34 £1,830,062.34 £1,830,062.34

£2,234,269.13 £2,254,121.10 £2,287,577.93 £2,287,577.93 £2,287,577.93

£446,853.83 £450,824.22 £457,515.59 £457,515.59 £457,515.59

£0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00

£5,151,884.73 £5,280,681.84 £5,412,698.89 £5,548,016.36 £5,686,716.77

£600,000.00 £605,000.00 £610,000.00 £615,000.00 £620,000.00

Table 4b - Investment summary (HFI%)

2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25

£49,650,425.00 £50,091,580.00 £50,835,065.00 £50,835,065.00 £50,835,065.00

8.5% 8.5% 8.4% 8.4% 8.3%

10.4% 10.5% 10.6% 10.9% 11.2%

0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5%

19.3% 19.4% 19.5% 19.7% 20.0%

Financial support (£)

The OfS requires providers to report on their planned investment in access, financial support and research and evaluation in their access and participation plan. The OfS does not require providers to report on

investment in student success and progression in the access and participation plans and therefore investment in these areas is not recorded here.

Note about the data:

The investment forecasts below in access, financial support and research and evaluation does not represent not the total amount spent by providers in these areas. It is the additional amount that providers have

committed following the introduction of variable fees in 2006-07. The OfS does not require providers to report on investment in success and progression and therefore investment in these areas is not represented.

The figures below are not comparable to previous access and participation plans or access agreements as data published in previous years does not reflect latest provider projections on student numbers.

Access and participation plan investment summary (£) Academic year

Total access activity investment (£) Access (pre-16)

Access (post-16)

Access (adults and the community)

Access (other)

Total investment (as %HFI)

Research and evaluation (£)

Access and participation plan investment summary (%HFI) Academic year

Higher fee income (£HFI)

Access investment

Research and evaluation

Financial support

Provider name: University of Exeter

Provider UKPRN: 10007792

Table 2a - Access

2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25

To reduce the gap in participation in

HE for students from

underrepresented groups

PTA_1Low Participation

Neighbourhood (LPN)

Ratio of entrants from POLAR4 quintile 1&2 vs 4&5 (relates

to KPM2)No

The access and

participation

dataset

2017-18 1:4.7 1:4.5 1:4.2 1:3.8 1:3.4 1:3.0 First degree, full-time or apprenticeship, young only

To reduce the gap in participation in

HE for students from

underrepresented groups

PTA_2Low Participation

Neighbourhood (LPN)

Ratio of entrants from the South West from POLAR4

quintile 1 vs 5 (relates to KPM2)No

Other data

source2018-19 1:1.5 1:1.4 1:1.3 1:1.2 1:1.1 1:1.0

First degree, full-time or apprenticeship, young only, from Devon,

Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset

To reduce the gap in participation in

HE for students from state school

and areas of deprivation

PTA_3 Other Percentage of entrants from IMD Q1&2 and state school NoOther data

source2018-19 11.0% 11.5% 11.75% 12.0% 12.5% 13.0% First degree, full-time or apprenticeship, young only

To reduce the gap in participation in

HE for students who are BAMEPTA_4 Ethnicity Percentage of BAME entrants No

The access and

participation

dataset

2018-19 10.1% 11.0% 11.5% 12.5% 13.5% 15.0% First degree, full-time or apprenticeship only

To reduce the gap in participation in

HE for students who are maturePTA_5 Mature Percentage of mature entrants No

The access and

participation

dataset

2017-18 5.8% 6.5% 6.8% 7.2% 7.6% 8.0% First degree, full-time or apprenticeship only

PTA_6

PTA_7

PTA_8

Table 2b - Success

2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25

To reduce the non-continuation gap

for students from

underrepresented groups

PTS_1Low Participation

Neighbourhood (LPN)POLAR4 Q1 non-continuation gap v Q5 (relates to KPM3) No

The access and

participation

dataset

2016-17 4ppt 3.75ppt 3.5ppt 3.25ppt 3ppt 2.5ppt First degree, full-time or apprenticeship, young <21 only

To reduce the non-continuation gap

for mature studentsPTS_2 Mature Mature v Young non-continuation gap No

The access and

participation

dataset

2016-17 9ppt 9ppt 8.75ppt 8.5ppt 8ppt 7.5ppt First degree, full-time or apprenticeship only

To reduce the attainment gap for

students from BAME groups

(specifically black)

PTS_3 Ethnicity Black students attainment gap v White (relates to KPM4) No

The access and

participation

dataset

2017-18 20ppt 18.5ppt 17ppt 15.5ppt 14ppt 12ppt First degree, full-time or apprenticeship only

To reduce the attainment gap for

students with a disabilityPTS_4 Disabled Disabled students attainment gap v non-disabled No

The access and

participation

dataset

2017-18 3ppt 2.5ppt 2ppt 1.5ppt 1ppt 0.5ppt First degree, full-time or apprenticeship only

PTS_5

PTS_6

PTS_7

PTS_8

Table 2c - Progression

2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25

To reduce the progression gap for

students from low income

households

PTP_1 Low income backgroundProgression gap for students from the lowest household

incomes (Access to Exeter bursary) v high incomeNo

Other data

source2015-16 3.1ppt 2.8ppt 2.5ppt 2.2ppt 1.9ppt 1.5ppt First degree, full-time or apprenticeship only

PTP_2

PTP_3

PTP_4

PTP_5

PTP_6

PTP_7

PTP_8

Baseline year Baseline data

Targets and investment plan 2020-21 to 2024-25

Targets

Yearly milestones Commentary on milestones/targets (500 characters maximum)

Aim (500 characters maximum) Reference

number

Target group Description Is this target

collaborative?

Data source Baseline year Baseline data

Aim (500 characters maximum) Reference

number

Target group Description (500 characters maximum) Is this target

collaborative?

Data source

Yearly milestones Commentary on milestones/targets (500 characters maximum)

Yearly milestones Commentary on milestones/targets (500 characters maximum)

Aim (500 characters maximum) Reference

number

Target group Description Is this target

collaborative?

Data source Baseline year Baseline data