WIDENING PARTICIPATION GROUP

WIDENING PARTICIPATION GROUP AGENDA ITEM 06/WPGROUP/05

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT, ADMISSIONS

The Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) for Admissions has been undertaken using the UCAS Datasets for 2004 entry.

There are 3 documents attached to this report. The first is the Initial Assessment Proforma, the second shows actual data from UCAS by course and by Minority Ethnic Group, the third is a table derived from the UCAS data showing percentages of students offered places and accepting places by Minority Ethnic Group.

With the exception of students from different racial groups the admissions policy (and in fairness what we are really talking about is Marketing, Recruitment and Admissions) appears to be working well and does not give any reason for concern. That said, we may of course view the data not just in terms of EIA but in terms of our strategic direction. This could make us view the figures differently, depending on the particular targets we have set for Edge Hill, however this is not within the scope of an EIA.

It is important when reading the following to bear in mind that the number of applicants from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups is relatively small and therefore in some cases a difference of 1 offer or 1 acceptance can change the statistical picture significantly, hence the raw data and percentages are provided. That said there are a number of issues emerging from the data which we cannot ignore.

In relation to students from different racial groups the pattern is similar to the previous EIA, the key points are as follows:

As an institution we continue to attract a relatively small number of applications from students from BMEs
The overall acceptance rate for full-time undergraduate students was 3.66% in 2004. The target for the Institution (including post-graduates, diploma and part-time students is 7.2% by 2006 entry)
For courses in HMSAS the applications:offers ratio is consistent but there is a drop-off in acceptances from students from BMEs when compared to white students
For courses in Health there is a difference in the percentage of students from different groups gaining initial offers, but the offers:acceptances ratio is consistent
For courses in Education there is a more significant difference in the percentage of students from different groups gaining initial offers, but the offers:acceptances ratio is consistent.

Interpreting the data

Getting beneath the surface of these figures is extremely difficult given that UCAS will not release the data on individuals in order for us to follow this up with any further statistical analysis. There are two issues which we cannot identify but are considered to be important in not jumping to conclusions when reading the data.

The issue of final acceptance is two fold, applicants have to select Edge Hill as their first or second choice and they also have to achieve the conditions of their offer
whether students from BME groups were rejected before or after interview, or indeed whether they failed to turn up to interview

We are now in a very difficult position in that we have data that would indicate we may have an issue but have no opportunity to investigate this further with the actual client group.

The Widening Participation Group is asked to:

Comment on and discuss the findings of this report and to make recommendations for a way forward. It is useful to bear in mind that Equality Impact Assessments are published on the web for public consumption and that this will be the second EIA for Admissions indicating the same issues but showing no action taken.

Anne Richards

Head of Student Recruitment and Widening Participation

October 2005

G:SR&WP/Other folders/WP Group/Equality Impact Assessments/EIA Report October 2005 on 2004 entry