SOAS Access Agreement 2016/17

Transcription

1 SOAS Access Agreement 2016/17 CONTENTS 1. Introduction and institutional context 2. Fees, fee rises and student numbers 3. Assessment of current performance in widening access and retention 4. Expenditure on access and student success 4.1. Investment in access and student success 4.2. Investment in financial support 5. Activities for improving access 5.1. Targeting and evidencing impact 5.2. Widening access activities 5.3. Collaboration 5.4. Contextual data 6. Activities for improving success 6.1. Student success activities 6.2. Tracking student success 7. Targets and milestones 8. Monitoring and evaluation arrangements 9. Provision of information to prospective 10. Consulting with 11. Equality and diversity 1. Introduction and institutional context SOAS, University of London is the leading institution for the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East. SOAS uniquely combines language scholarship, disciplinary expertise and regional focus. It has the largest concentration in Europe of academic staff concerned with Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Significant growth is planned with the opening of the North Block in Senate House in 2016 which will allow SOAS to be a single site campus in the heart of Bloomsbury. It will bring many benefits for our staff and, including new state-of-the-art research, teaching and student facilities as we prepare to commemorate our centenary in 2016 and as we plan for our next 100 years. SOAS core values underpin all of its activities; promoting equality and celebrating diversity, freedom of speech and tolerance, promoting cultural understanding, ethical standards, excellence, community, evaluation and self-reflection, transparency and accountability, and excellence. It is within this framework that SOAS evidences its continuous commitment to widening participation and fair access in ensuring equal opportunity for all regardless of their background. This access agreement is informed by and aligns closely with other institutional strategies such as the newly developed Strategic Plan which brings together learning and teaching, research and enterprise, and public education and engagement. This close integration with high level strategic documents and their performance 1

2 indicators ensure a whole institutional approach which embeds wider participation and access at every level of the institution. SOAS approach for 2016/17 has largely remained unchanged based on evidence gathered through institutional reviews, evaluation and monitoring. Evidence shows that the strategic approach taken has resulted in an improvement in our access and student success performance. Based on this success our targets and milestones have been revised to ensure we continue to make progress. SOAS will continue to target our outreach, student support/retention activities and financial support at the most underrepresented and have improve our evaluation and monitoring strategy to ensure we are best able to measure impact. SOAS have worked with our Students Union and prospective in developing our approach in this agreement, particularly around outreach and financial support. This consultation has meant our agreement for 2016/17 is focused on continuing to build the evidence base for our outreach activities, engaging more academic staff and in outreach and student success activities, and improving our targeting and evaluation procedures. 2. Fees, fee rises and student numbers SOAS proposes to charge a single undergraduate tuition fee of 9,000 for all degree programmes for new home/eu entrants in 2016/17. There is no justification for differential fees between programmes. Fees for on year abroad programmes will be no higher than 1,725 and will rise in line with the regulations. The fee will increase with the Government s permitted rise each year in line with the regulations. We estimate an intake of 719 home/eu undergraduate in 2016/ Assessment of our current performance in access and student success SOAS is committed to increasing the participation of from a variety of backgrounds. Although we recognise our contribution to the improved participation rates of the most disadvantaged across the sector during the past 5 years, we continue to assess our performance against HESA widening participation of underrepresented groups. These measure the proportion of from state schools, lower socio-economic groups, lower participation neighbourhoods and those in receipt of DSA. There has been a steady increase in the proportion of young from state school and lower socioeconomic group backgrounds since 2010/11. For latest data available (2013/14), SOAS exceeded the benchmark by 4.3% and 4.8% respectively. Less positive progress has been made with regard to the recruitment of both young and mature from low participation neighbourhoods in 2013/14 which reflects the overall downward trend across the UK. The recruitment of young from low participation neighbourhoods is 3.7% against a benchmark of 4.1%, and the recruitment of mature from low participation neighbourhoods is 2.2% against a benchmark of 4.9%. The proportion of in receipt of DSA has fallen since 2012/13 and is 0.1% below the benchmark. SOAS will need to target access activities at these hardest to reach groups to ensure an increase in participation rates. The table below shows the HESA performance indicators for widening participation for 2013/14: Measure SOAS Location-adjusted UK Average benchmark State school 81.6% 77.3% 89.7% NS-SEC % 25.8% 32.6% LPN young 3.7% 4.1% 10.9% LPN mature 2.2% 4.9% 11.9% Students in receipt of DSA 6.3% 6.4% 6.9% 2

3 Student success remains a key theme within this access agreement. HESA non-continuation rates for the latest data (2012/13) available show further investment and targeted activity is required to improve the noncontinuation rates of young and mature entrants, and across the institution as a whole. There remains a significant difference between the continuation of young and mature, where mature are three times more likely to not continue than young. For 2012/13 the non-continuation rate is 2.2% below the benchmark although in 2011/12 the difference was 2.9% which is a slight improvement year on year. Mature student non-continuation rate is 8.7% below the benchmark and has increased from a difference of 2.3% in 2011/12. The table below shows the HESA performance indicators for non-continuation for 2012/13: Measure SOAS Location-adjusted UK Average benchmark Young entrants 6.4% 4.2% 5.7% Mature entrants 20.6% 11.9% 13.1% All entrants 9.7% 6.3% 7% The assessment above identifies five areas of focus for access and retention work: 1. Increased efforts needed to meet or exceed the benchmark for young from low participation neighbourhoods 2. Significant increased efforts needed to meet the benchmark for mature from low participation neighbourhoods 3. Increased efforts needed to meet or exceed the benchmark for in receipt of DSA 4. Increased efforts to reduce the non-continuation rate of young 5. Increased efforts to reduce the non-continuation rate of mature Improvements in participation and retention will require further consistent and focused work with those groups who are least represented in higher education. Support will also be required to ensure that student success rates are improved across SOAS. With this in mind SOAS has agreed the following prioritised areas for its outreach and retention work under this Access Agreement: 1. Recruitment of mature from low participation neighbourhoods 2. Recruitment of young from low participation neighbourhoods 3. Retention of young, more generally 4. Retention of mature, more generally 5. Recruitment and support of in receipt of DSA In addition to these priority areas SOAS will ensure success is maintained in the recruitment of from state schools and from lower socio-economic groups. Institutional data has been used to develop a refined set of targets and milestones that ensure SOAS works with the most disadvantaged within these categories. The aim is to increase the absolute numbers from these key groups and section 8 of this agreement represents a realistic but stretching set of targets. SOAS will increase investment in long term outreach and student success activities by redirecting funding from financial support, and evidence that our approach to outreach and success reflects our commitment to addressing access. The coordinated approach and focussed approach to access, student success and financial support is described in sections 5 and 6. 3

4 4. Expenditure on access and student success measures 4.1. Investment in access and student success The table below show the split between financial support, outreach and retention expenditure between to Year /16 Year /17 Year /18 Year /19 Year 5 Forecast Forecast Forecast Forecast Forecast Financial support 1,075,000 1,135,000 1,136,500 1,148,500 1,148,500 Outreach 390, , , , ,624 Retention and student success 370, , , , ,655 Total expenditure 1,836,498 1,947,227 2,026,270 2,058,270 2,070,779 The table below demonstrates, in percentage terms, the shift in the balance of expenditure towards delivering more outreach and student success activities. Year /16 Year /17 Year /18 Year /19 Year 5 Forecast Forecast Forecast Forecast Forecast Financial support 59% 58% 56% 57% 56% Outreach 21% 21% 20% 20% 20% Retention and student success 20% 21% 24% 23% 24% Total Percentage 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Based on the assessment of our access and student success record for 2016/17 SOAS expenditure level on access measures will be 29.8% of fee income above basic fee level Investment in financial support For 2016/17 SOAS have simplified the financial support offered to the most disadvantaged. This will provide a clear and consistent message to the eligible for financial support, and aids in simplifying the administrative processes required for delivering the support. Institutional evidence from the evaluation of our financial support packages indicates that outreach has the biggest impact on a decision to apply to university and that financial support has an impact on the retention rate. This has informed our decision to offer financial support over the duration of programmes for from the most disadvantaged groups. Excellence Award The SOAS Excellence award totals 7,500 distributed over 3 years. It is targeted at care-leavers, from low participation neighbourhoods, first generation HE entrants and household incomes up to 24,999. This award provides support to the most underrepresented groups and helps towards improving student success by supporting over the course of their degree. Study Support Funds SOAS Study Support funds provide one-off financial support to who experience unanticipated financial hardship. The fund is targeted at from underrepresented groups, and those who have low household income. The support is provided on a means-tested basis with a maximum value of 1,000. 4

5 The table below shows the financial support available in 2016/17 and reflects our priorities in recruiting and retaining the best from disadvantaged groups. Award Excellence Award Study Support Funds No. available First year Second year Third year Total Cash bursary Fee waiver Cash bursary Fee waiver Cash bursary Fee waiver 152 2,500-2,500-2,500-7, Max. 1,000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Max. 1,000 In 2016/17 SOAS will offer 152 new a substantial financial support package. This represents 20% of our projected new home/eu intake for 2016/ Activities for improving access and student success SOAS is a world-renowned specialist institution focusing on Asia, Africa and the Middle East. As such we have academics and with a passion and expertise in some of the most interesting and exciting regions in the world. Our work in widening access draws upon this passion to create engaging, innovative and academically rigorous outreach programmes. These programmes are grounded in a robust targeting methodology and evaluated using a variety of indicators to measure impact. All outreach activity is focused on three main strands; raising aspirations, attainment and progression to Higher Education. Each objective necessitates a differentiated approach which is developed through evaluation and academic engagement. Our access performance assessment indicates a more proactive approach is required for reaching young and mature from low participation neighbourhoods. In addition to delivering our established range of activities in 2016/17 we will also: circulate information outside of London to the South East where there are more LPN learners; set up specific projects in schools in a low participation areas, increase our collaborative projects with HEIs in other regions increase the number of departments using POLAR3 data when making conditional offers deliver a specific programme for partner colleagues for long-term, sustained activities increase number of partner colleges engaged with SOAS increase the range of language-focused activities delivered in schools and colleges across London To support these new areas of work we will commit additional resources in outreach to ensure we have capacity to deliver on our access and student success aims Targeting and evidencing impact SOAS have improved the methodology used for targeting at individual and school level. This includes a point scoring system for schools engaged in our raising aspirations and attainment programmes, and for applying to our extended programmes focused on progression to Higher Education. SOAS targets schools with most the most need. We use a basket of data to assess which schools we will work with. The data used to make assessments are: Percentage of pupils achieving 5 GCSEs A*-C including English and Maths Percentage of pupils eligible for Free School Meals 5

6 This data is used in a formula by which schools are assigned a priority number 1-4. Each criteria is banded, with GCSE percentages further below the national average and FSM percentages further above the national average leading to a high priority number. Students who wish to take part in our extended programme must complete an application form. This form, alongside a supporting letter from a school teacher and parental consent, provides the data necessary to effectively target. The data used to make the assessment are socio-economic and attainment related: HE participation quintile (POLAR3) First generation entrant Eligibility for free school meals Attainment at GCSE level compared to the average school performance Experience of care In addition are asked to disclose socio-economic information on anonymous post-activity evaluation forms, which we analyse on an event-by-event and annual basis. Of over 2000 participant evaluation forms collected in , over half reported no parental background of higher education, and over a third reported that they had been in receipt of Free School Meals (the London average rate of Free School Meal eligibility is 23.4%, the national average 15.1%). These figures reflect increasingly robust targeting procedures, and continue to improve year on year. The table below provides targeting data for the key activities: Type of activity % Attendees eligible for Free School Meals % Attendees with no parental experience of HE % Attendees disclosing that they have been in care Taster days 39.7% 45.5% 5% Masterclasses 40.5% 67.6% 1.2% Summer schools 42.7% 77.3% 1.5% Sustained long-term projects 77.4% 77.4% 0% Languages outreach programme 32.1% 61.2% 8% Evaluation and measuring impact is core to our access and student success strategy. SOAS systematically and routinely gathers data from learners, and other stakeholders on the impact of its activities. Reports are produced against a number of variables which allows the monitoring of outcomes and attitudinal changes amongst different groups. These include measuring: Increased awareness of HE study and student life How to progress to HE Costs and support available Impact on current study Changes in attitude towards HE 6

7 The table below demonstrates our activities consistently impact learners in at least one of the three key attitudes measures: Type of activity % agreeing they have learnt more about what university study would be like % agreeing they have gained study skills to help with their current studies % agreeing that they are looking forward to going to university Taster days 88.2% 63.4% n/a Masterclasses 88.3% 55.9% 89% Summer Schools 98.6% 93.5% 97.9% Sustained long-term projects 84.4% 87.9% 96.9% Access conferences 89.2% 64.7% 93.3% Languages outreach programme 66% 53.6% 77.3% To further measure impact, structures are in place for tracking the progression to higher education outcomes of learners who engage in our long-term and summer school programmes. Further along the student lifecycle, the student retention and success of the outreach-attending learners who progress to SOAS is being tracked as a measure of the impact of our outreach. In 2016/17 SOAS will continue to gather evidence which demonstrates the impact that increased knowledge and skills have on a participant s learning and behavior, and how this eventually contributes to their progression to university Widening access activities Outreach programmes SOAS will continue to deliver a programme of activities with the aims of raising aspirations, increasing attainment and progression to HE. The table below shows some examples of outreach activities which form part of our raising aspirations and attainment, and progression to Higher Education extension programmes 1. Raising aspirations and attainment Activity Features/Objectives Target Group/s Discovering University Provides younger with an introduction to university Key Stage Involves talks by undergraduate 2 Participants Ambassador-led taster days Provide a positive and engaging HE experience Key stages (and in conjunction with the Provide IAG on HE through an interesting learner-led 2, 3 and 4 SOAS Student Union) experience Provide tasters through subject-specific workshops Language taster days Provide a positive and engaging HE experience All year Provide participants with opportunities to find out about a wider range of languages available in HE groups in schools Distinctive SOAS offering and Focus on increasing employability in Sixth Form/FE college 1 Please see SOAS Widening Participation and Outreach Activities booklet 7

8 Immersion Weeks (Turkish & Urdu) Provide a positive and engaging HE experience Provide GCSE support for Turkish and Urdu speakers Improve community language skills and increased confidence Provide greater exploration of HE for hard to reach group Key stage 3 and 4 Progression to HE Activity Outcomes/features Target Group/s Summer schools Provide a sustained and intense HE intervention (including collaborative, subject specific and SU-led Provide interested in particular topics with a broader understanding of the discipline and degree options summer schools) Provide sustained, meaningful contact with current HE, as well as forum for gaining study skills and specific subject knowledge Includes sessions on careers and employability Key stage 4, in Sixth Form Masterclasses Provide a snapshot of university-style learning and teaching Provide meaningful contact with current HE ; who very directly provide role models of people who have come from similar backgrounds Increase the understanding of the HE experience to younger Provide support to who may be struggling with the concept of HE Access to HE Provides a sustained HE-focused programme to learners programme Gives FE college experience of undergraduate level study Improves transition across educational sectors Provides undergraduate level study skills sessions Provides sustained, meaningful contact with current HE who completed an Access to HE diploma Involves academics and college tutors sharing practice and teaching methodologies SOAS Scholars: Long-term sustained outreach project for Year 12s from Thinking Globally! disadvantaged backgrounds with the potential to achieve high grades at Level 3 study Develops participants critical thinking skills to fulfil their academic potential in their current studies Explores different subject areas in order to find the right degree choice Involves working with current undergraduate on a number of higher education and career related activities to build knowledge and skills Global Matters Long-term sustained outreach project for Year 10s from disadvantaged backgrounds Targets learners with the potential to achieve high grades at Level 2 study Provides participants with an opportunity to develop key critical thinking skills to fulfil their academic potential Aims to raise these disadvantaged attainment Key stage 5 and in Sixth Form, mature in FE college Access to HE learners in FE college Key stage 5 Key stage 4 8

9 gap Step On Programme Long-term programme providing young people with no family history of higher education with the opportunity to learn a new language Develops the study skills require to succeed at KS5 Involves shadowing a university student and attending a conference on applying to university Aims to improve retention in language studies from AS to A-level and to university Key stage 5 Primary Schools The WP team have work with the education charity IntoUniversity to host events for the young people that they work with. The charity offers a programme that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attain either a university place or another chosen aspiration. The charity has education centres across London which organise homework clubs, mentoring and educational visits. We will continue to host university visits for the charity such as IU Lambeth and IU East Ham. We will also continue to host primary groups from the charity as part of their Primary FOCUS programme. We have written a new Assembly titled 'Discovering University'. The activity has been piloted with feeder schools of our priority secondary schools. We will continue to roll out this activity in 2016/ Collaborative working Collaboration is a key requirement in meeting need and delivering activities concerning widening participation and access to schools, colleges and the local community. SOAS is an active member in a number of networks relating to widening participation and access. Involvement in these networks have enabled us to increase the scope and reach of our work in attracting disadvantaged as well as contributing to raising aspirations of irrespective of which institution they may go to. The sections below provide further detail about our collaborative working Capital L, Routes into Languages Capital L is the London consortium of the National Routes into Languages programme. The consortium's 13 HEIs collaborate with schools, colleges and a range of other stakeholders to increase the uptake of languages in schools, colleges and universities. Capital L staff sit in the WP team within the Academic Development Directorate. The consortium is jointly directed by the Head of Widening Participation at SOAS and the Professor of French of University of Westminster Linking London Linking London is a unique partnership of 39 partners made up of universities, colleges, sixth form colleges, schools, awarding bodies, jisc Regional Support Centre, the London Councils Young People's Education and Skills team and unionlearn. The network has been in existence since The core aims of our partnership are to support recruitment, retention and progression into and through higher education, in all its variety, including full and part time, higher apprenticeships and work based learning and employment. Through Linking London membership partners work both collaboratively, and individually, to maximise their contribution to targeted student engagement and achievement, social mobility and in pursuit of improvements in social justice through education Aimhigher London South AHLS works to ensure fair access to higher education for young people from non-traditional backgrounds. This is achieved by linking schools, colleges, universities and education providers together to work effectively. AHLS works in partnership with 11 universities, 28 schools and 3 further education colleges across London and the South East. The network is committed to collaboration and works together to; provide impartial information, advice and guidance to learners from year 8 year 13, 9

10 share good practice at a local and regional level in order to determine what works well and that activities are effective, develop and apply evaluation and monitoring methods to illustrate long term impact, improve the involvement of current The Brilliant Club The Brilliant Club, an education charity, recruit, train and place doctoral researchers in state schools serving low participation communities to deliver programmes of university-style tutorials. We help the charity to recruit tutors from amongst our postgraduate student body and host four events at SOAS as part of the Brilliant Club package of interventions. These events will comprise of some of our own typical outreach activities such as campus tours and taster classes alongside aspiration raising content delivered by Brilliant Club staff. We will continue collaborating with third sector organisations such as these in 2016/ University of London Outreach, Access and Success Group A network established in April 2014 where a number of University of London institutions have come together to collaborate on five strategic themes including; key stage 3 and 4 outreach, evaluation and research, non-traditional qualifications, student success and progression and postgraduate widening access National Networks for Collaborative Outreach SOAS is a member of two new NNCO across London; Linking London and Aimhigher London South. As a member of the NNCO initiative SOAS have access to and use of a single point of contact (SPoC) in the Linking London and AHLS office, supported by a dedicated Project Officer, who is responsible for co-ordinating information on collaborative school and HE/FE outreach activity in London. This two year project has as its aim the coverage of all school, further education and sixth form colleges in London, and the simplification of availability of information so that no-one is disadvantaged. The SPoC is designed to support the staff in partner organisations and act as a first port of call. We will continue to review all collaborative arrangements to ensure they meet our widening access and outreach objectives under the new fees regime Contextual data The use of contextual data in Admissions is the consideration of additional socio-economic and educational data together with a learner s UCAS application as part of an HEI s admissions process. This seeks to better identify potential aptitude for higher education by considering an applicant s attainment in the context in which it was achieved. This could result in, for example, an applicant being made a conditional offer with lower than standard entry criteria, on the basis that a lower grade attained in more challenging circumstances is a good predictor of a learner with the potential to thrive in higher education. Currently SOAS takes a contextual data approach in which applicants who have previously participated in long-term outreach and summer schools are eligible for conditional offers with reduced entry criteria (to be eligible to participate in these programmes, learners must satisfy socio-economic and educational related criteria). Departments take a more holistic approach, and consider all Home applicants for reduced entry criteria on the basis of socio-economic data. Conditional offers with reduced entry criteria are usually 1 or 2 grades lower than the standard offer. We will continue to use this approach for 2016/17. Evidence gathered from application and admission outcomes for outreach-attendees who apply to SOAS show: A quarter of those attending our long-term outreach activities apply to SOAS A tenth of those attending one-off activities when in Year 12 or 13 apply to SOAS 1 in 2 of those outreach attendees who apply to SOAS choose us as their firm choice 1 in 4 of all outreach attendees who apply to SOAS gain a place here None of the outreach-attendees who entered SOAS on reduced entry criteria in 2014 have withdraw 10

11 6. Student success activities SOAS is committed to supporting the success of all its and helping them realise their aspirations. Our degree programmes are unique and diverse in their content and regional focus. It is therefore crucial to provide support at all points in the student life cycle from pre-entry to after graduation, particularly those from underrepresented groups. The assessment of our access and student success performance indicates that SOAS need to put in place measures to improve the retention rate of young and mature, and the overall student population. SOAS currently provide a wide range of activities designed to support and enhance learning and success. These include one-to-one essay tutorials, departmental study support sessions and study skills workshops. In addition, we provide free week-long Bridging Courses for mature and first generation (including LPN) HE to smooth the transition from school, college or work to university. The support offered has improved the retention rate of mature ; however we acknowledge that further investment is required. SOAS will therefore place further resources into developing and expanding the Bridging Courses and first year support for 2016/17. Support will include essay feedback surgeries and transitions workshops. All activities will be evaluated and improved to provide appropriate support for the most vulnerable. In addition SOAS has created a Learning & Teaching Coordinator role whose specific responsibility will be engaging underrepresented groups in student success activities. Further to this, SOAS are concerned about the impact of the changes to the Disabled Students Allowance. For 2016/17 there will be additional investment in support for. This will include additional staffing to support the increasing number of with mental health difficulties and the growing number of disabled Student success programmes The table below provides examples of activities to support student success: Activity Outcomes/features Target group/s Bridging Courses for Mature Transition support for and First Generation (inc. Study skills including writing an essay LPN) Students Early awareness and access to support services First year support Transitions workshop Prepares for greater independence and demands of Year 2 Reflective process with support from relevant colleagues and academic departments Bridging Out Courses Skills for employment Careers advice after graduation Workshops supporting transition Buddying Increase the number of disclosing through one-to-one support and mentoring Advice and support in the first term Language study workshops Increase retention rate of on language programmes Mature and who are the first in the family to go to university (inc. LPN) Mature and who are the first in the family to go to university (inc. LPN) Mature, who are the first in the family to go to university (inc. LPN), from lower socio-economic groups Students in receipt of DSA, care leavers Students studying language/language-related programmes 11

12 6.2. Tracking student success Using a newly-developed student tracking system, we have also been able to measure the success and retention rates of from under-represented groups, and to map this against which of our success and retention activities they have engaged with. This is done primarily through monitoring. At the start of each year, entrants from target groups (LPN, mature, first-generation entrants) are identified; including those engaged in any widening participation activity or received a bursary. The Year 1 outcome figures for the 2013 intake are as follows: Background of Progressing to Restarting Year 1 Withdrawn Unknown student Year 2 LPN 87% 7% 0% 7% First-generation 74% 21% 5% 0% Mature 65% 24% 8% 4% In addition to this monitoring, all from these target backgrounds are contacted by the WP team at key points in the academic cycle, providing an additional point of contact and signpost to support. For 2016/16 SOAS will continue to develop these processes to build a fuller picture of student success and retention for all. The focus will be to embed support for widening participation and mature in particular, in areas of SOAS other than the Widening Participation Team. Examples of this are the new role of Learning & Success Coordinator focused on improving retention across from underrepresented groups and discussions and work with Faculty Student Support Teams to identify and implement initiatives which increase student retention and success. 12

13 7. Targets and milestones The targets below reflect the need to maintain and improve the scope of our outreach and student success activities to ensure that all are able to access, progress and succeed at SOAS. Targets have been formulated based on our assessment of our current performance, sector wide benchmarks and institutional evidence. Whilst the targets are stretching, they represent our increased investment in this area and the outcomes we wish to achieve. The table below shows SOAS targets based on HESA data. Measure Young first degree entrants from LPN (POLAR3) Mature first degree entrants from LPN (POLAR3) First degree in receipt of DSA Young first degree entrants from NS-SEC 4-7 State school first degree entrants Noncontinuation of young Noncontinuation of mature Noncontinuation overall Baseline Target aim (2013/14 intake) 3.7% To increase the proportion of from this group to 5% by 2.2% To increase the proportion of from this group to 4% by 6.3% To increase the proportion of this group to 7% by 30.6% To maintain the proportion of from this group by 81.6% To maintain the proportion of from this group by 6.4% To reduce the noncontinuation rate of young to 5% by 20.6% To reduce the noncontinuation rate of mature to 15% by 9.7% To reduce the noncontinuation rate of the overall population to 7% by Milestone at 2016/17 Milestone at 2017/18 Milestone at 2018/19 Milestone at 4% 4.4% 4.7% 5% 2.5% 3% 3.5% 4% 6.5% 6.7% 6.9% 7% 31% 31% 31% 31% 82% 82% 82% 82% 6.4% 6% 5.5% 5% 20.6% 18% 16% 15% 9.7% 9% 8% 7% 13

14 The table below shows our institutional targets: Measure Number of school and FE college attending extended programmes Number of attending summer schools Baseline (2012/13 data) Target aim To increase the number of school and FE college engaged in extended programmes to 100 by To increase the number of attending subject-based summer schools Milestone at 2016/ Milestone at 2017/ Milestone at 2018/ Milestone at Conversion of year 12 & 13 outreach attendees to SOAS applications Conversion of year 12 & 13 outreach attendees who apply and gain a place at SOAS Number of attending Bridging Course for Mature Number of attending Bridging Course for First Generation Percentage of Mature Bridging Course attendees progressing to year 2 Percentage of First Generations Bridging Course attendees progressing to year 2 25% To increase the proportion of outreach attendees who apply to SOAS to 35% by 25% To increase the conversion rate of outreach attendees who gain a place at SOAS to 35% by To increase the number of mature attending the Bridging Course to 75 by To increase the number of first generation attending the Bridging Course to 60 by 72.7% To increase the progression rate of mature Bridging Course attendees into year two to 80% by 79.4% To increase the progression rate of first generation Bridging Course attendees into year two to 85% by 25% 28% 33% 35% 25% 28% 32% 35% % 74% 77% 80% 79.4% 82% 84% 85% 14

15 We will monitor on an in-year basis the progress towards our milestone using sector-wide and institutional proxy data to ensure we make progress over a 5-year period. Targets may be reviewed, if necessary, based on institutional data and UCAS data collected during the application cycle. 8. Monitoring and evaluation arrangements The Pro-Director (Learning and Teaching) is the senior manager with ultimate responsibility for access and widening participation. SOAS commitment to access is further supported by faculties and departments through the planning, implementation and monitoring of various measures, particularly in relation to retention, progression and collaboration. Performance in widening participation and access are monitored by the Academic Development Committee chaired by the Pro-Director (Learning and Teaching) and are also considered by the External Relations Committee (chaired by the Registrar) and the Student Experience Committee (chaired by the Dean of Faculty Languages and Cultures) and, at the highest level, discussed at Academic Board and Governing Body. There is student representation at these committees to ensure are fully able to contribute and shape approaches. All areas of SOAS have a responsibility to support widening participation and fair access. The core SOAS Widening Participation Team is based in the Academic Services Directorate. The team works extensively with the Student Recruitment team and Admissions team, Faculty Offices (Languages and Culture, Law and Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities), Academic Services and the Students Union on issues of access, admissions criteria, student support and retention. The implementation of this access agreement will be supported by all these areas of SOAS. The WP team continually monitors and evaluates the activities delivered in its monthly team meetings. These formal meetings provide the opportunity for each member to share evidence to support each activity he/she carries out. This information is fed into a quarterly and annual report on widening participation activities. The body responsible for the delivery of the Access Agreement is the OFFA Steering Group comprised of; Pro- Director (Learning and Teaching), Registrar, Director of Academic Services, Director of Finance and Planning, Head of Widening Participation and a SU representative. This group reports to the Director of SOAS. An action plan for 2016/17 will be developed, in collaboration with the Students Union, to support the implementation of the Access Agreement and this will be monitored by the Steering Group. The Head of Widening Participation will be responsible for delivering the action plan, and for reporting to the Pro-Director (Learning and Teaching). A Working Group comprises of key staff working on areas relating to access, student success and finance will provide advice and feedback on the progress of implementation. 9. Provision of information to prospective SOAS provides clear, accessible and timely information to applicants and potential on our undergraduate fees and financial support. Information on fees and financial support is provided through on our institutional website and the UCAS website. We will publish our financial support on these websites. For 2016/17 we will continue to produce a leaflet 2 on our financial support which is distributed to schools and colleges. This will be distributed from September The leaflet will be created in conjunction with current SOAS who are from under-represented groups to ensure the information is clear and easy to understand by potential. We have created student finance presentations with our student ambassadors that are delivered to from year 11 onwards in all our access-related activities. We update this presentation with support from our. 2 Please see attached example from 2014/15 of financial support leaflet 15

16 For 2016/17 we will continue to provide updated information to UCAS and the SLC on our fees and financial support packages. In addition SOAS will be providing financial information to younger which will include the delivery of broader IAG and information to parents and teachers. 10. Consulting with Statement from SOAS Students Union The SOAS Students Union has worked in tandem with the School in drafting the revised Access Agreement for 2016/17. In continuing with the good practice from the 2015/16 drafting process, the Co-President Welfare and Education has met with the School s Widening Participation Team to discuss our shared priorities regarding the School s access measures throughout the year. This is again reflected in the continued emphasis of cash bursaries as a form of financial support, and success initiatives for underrepresented groups as a fundamental and prominent part of the School s Widening Participation activities. We have been working with the School s Widening Participation team for the past five years in delivering joint WP outreach activities, and have received much welcomed support from SOAS in the running of the Students Union-led outreach programme, the SOAS Saturday Club and Student HUB. We look forward to expanding our collaborative provision to include an SU-led Summer School, and hope to further develop this key relationship in the coming years. We welcome the substantial recognition of the importance of these joint initiatives in this Access Agreement. Consultation with SU and current As an institution we are very engaged with our SU in a number of areas relating to governance, academic standards, quality assurance, student experience and widening access. For a number of years the SU have been working with colleagues involved in widening access and participation to devise student-led projects and activities. This level of consultation has continued in developing the 2016/17 access agreement. The results of these consultations have included the following: Increased expenditure on long-term outreach programmes and further collaboration in building a SOAS community for access Further emphasising the importance of retention and success in the agreement, and SU assistance in devising programmes in response to concerns about outcomes for from underrepresented groups Reviewing financial support arrangements to ensure they are attractive and suitable for needs 11. Equality and diversity SOAS will ensure we have appropriately executed our responsibilities under the Equality Act We have consulted with the Equality and Diversity Advisor when devising the proposals outlined in this access agreement. We have conducted an equality analysis to ensure that any legally protected groups have not been negatively affected by the proposals outlined in our access agreement. As part of this analysis we note the following: The legally protected groups of young people and ethnic minorities are likely to be positively impacted by our aims to increase progression from young from low participation neighbourhoods and young from lower socio-economic groups The legally protected groups of mature people are likely to be positively impacted by our aims to increase progression from mature from low participation neighbourhoods 16

17 We will continue to collaborate on equality and diversity issues through joint investigations on differences in degree attainment for from lower socio-economic backgrounds, those from state schools and those from low participation neighbourhoods, as well as the new project looking at the differences attainment of black in particular. During 2016/17 we will continue to monitor the effects of our access work on legally protected groups by working closely with the Equality and Diversity Advisor. In addition the Head of Widening Participation attends Equality and Diversity Committee. We recognise the opportunities for closer links with our Equality and Diversity Strategy, particularly with the changes to the Disabled Students Allowance, and wish to maintain our ability to attract and support with disabilities. For 2016/17 we will investigate this further and look more closely at the links with the strategy and various equality-related reports. 17

18 Table 7 - Targets and milestones Institution name: The School of Oriental and African Studies Institution UKPRN: Table 7a - Statistical targets and milestones relating to your applicants, entrants or student body Reference number Please select target type from the drop-down menu Description (500 characters maximum) Is this a collaborative target? Baseline year Baseline data Yearly milestones (numeric where possible, however you may use text) Commentary on your milestones/targets or textual description where numerical description is not appropriate (500 characters maximum) T16a_01 HESA T1a - Low participation neighbourhoods (POLAR3) (Young, full-time, first degree entrants) To increase the proportion of young LPN from this group to 5.4% by No % 4% 4% 4.5% 4.9% 5.4% T16a_02 HESA T2a - (Mature, full-time, first degree entrants) To increase the proportion of mature LPN from this group to 4% by No % 2.2% 2.5% 3% 3.5% 4% T16a_03 HESA T7 - Students in receipt of DSA (full-time, first degree entrants) To increase the proportion of this group to 7% by No % 6.3% 6.5% 6.7% 6.9% 7% T16a_04 HESA T1a - NS-SEC classes 4-7 (Young, full-time, first degree entrants) To maintain the proportion of from this group by No % 31% 31% 31% 31% 31% T16a_05 HESA T1a - State School (Young, full-time, first degree entrants) To maintain the proportion of from this group by No % 82% 82% 82% 82% 82% T16a_06 HESA T3a - No longer in HE after 1 year (Young, full-time, first degree entrants) To reduce the non-continuation rate of young to 5% by No % 6.4% 6.4% 6% 5.5% 5% T16a_07 HESA T3a - No longer in HE after 1 year (Mature, full-time, first degree entrants) To reduce the non-continuation rate of mature to 15% by No % 20.6% 20.6% 18% 16% 15% T16a_08 HESA T3a - No longer in HE after 1 year (All, full-time, first degree entrants) To reduce the non-continuation rate of the overall population to 7% by No % 9.7% 9.7% 9% 8% 7% Notes Alongside applicant and entrant targets, we encourage you to provide targets around outreach and student success work (including collaborative work where appropriate) or other initiatives to illustrate your progress towards increasing access, student success and progression. These should be measurable outcomes based targets and should focus on the number of beneficiaries reached by a particular activity/programme or the number of schools worked with, and what the outcomes were, rather than simply recording the nature/number of activities. Table 7b - Other milestones and targets. Reference Number Please select target type from the drop-down menu Description (500 characters maximum) Is this a collaborative target? Baseline year Baseline data Yearly milestones (numeric where possible, however you may use text) Commentary on your milestones/targets or textual description where numerical description is not appropriate (500 characters maximum) T16b_01 Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next column) To increase the number of school and FE college engaged in extended programmes to 100 by No T16b_02 Outreach / WP activity (summer schools) To increase the number of attending subject-based summer schools No T16b_03 Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next column) To increase the proportion of outreach attendees who apply to SOAS to 35% by No % 25% 25% 28% 33% 35% T16b_04 T16b_05 T16b_06 T16b_07 T16b_08 Contextual data Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next column) Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next column) Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next column) Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next column) To increase the conversion rate of outreach attendees who gain a place at SOAS to 35% by To increase the number of mature attending the Bridging Course to 75 by To increase the number of first generation attending the Bridging Course to 60 by To increase the progression rate of mature Bridging Course attendees into year two to 80% by To increase the progression rate of first generation Bridging Course attendees into year two to 85% by No % 25% 25% 28% 32% 35% No No No % 72.7% 72.7% 74% 77% 80% No % 79.4% 79.4% 82% 84% 85% Optional commentary on milestones. This box is character-limited to 1000 characters; however, we are happy for you to upload additional supporting information as a separate Word/pdf document.