... HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS APPLYING THROUGH UCAS WITH AN ACCESS QUALIFICATION ENTRY

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1 ... HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS APPLYING THROUGH UCAS WITH AN ACCESS QUALIFICATION ENTRY Since the inception of Access programmes in 1978, they have become well established as a recognised route into higher education for adult learners. Access programmes are specially designed for mature students and those who, for whatever reason, have been educationally disadvantaged. The growth in Access programmes has been rapid. There were only six courses in 1979, and 130 in By, the total number of recognised Access programmes registered by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) was nearly 1,200 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, accounting for an estimated 30,000 enrolments through Authorised Validating Agencies (AVAs) - a network of locally based consortia. The QAA is responsible for the framework of national arrangements for the recognition of Access programmes. It licenses the AVAs to act as awarding bodies. Access programmes which the AVAs have validated and approved are registered centrally with the QAA for a kitemark of national recognition. There are currently 32 AVAs in operation. In recent years, an increasing number of discrete Access Courses are being replaced by Access provision, e.g. large, college-wide, modular, multi-subject schemes, which use credit-based learning, and the Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL). In these cases, the terminology course is replaced by programme or Access provision and for such creditbased modular Access provision, the quality assurance arrangements tend to focus on the Access qualification as a customised award made up from credits according to specified rules of combination (UCAS:1). An Internet web-site, launched in, has been developed by UCAS to promote the Database of Access programmes. The web-site can be searched by region, subject or course and includes all programmes listed in the Department for Education and Employment s (DfEE s) official Schedule 2(c) listing, which is published annually. It can be found on the UCAS web-site at Originally, the Database of Access Courses was developed by staff at City University in collaboration with the National Information Services Systems (NISS). From autumn, UCAS assumed responsibility for the management and maintenance of the Database. University and College admissions staff may use the Database to understand the range of students experience of subjects, study skills and forms of assessment. Information on the Database can assist staff in the formulation of an offer of a place that fits students needs and institution s course offerings. The Database holds information about the institutions who provide Access programmes, 1

2 including contact names, a summary of the curriculum offered, methods of assessment, requirements for achieving the Access Certificate and details of progression links with higher education institutions (HEI). 2

3 INTRODUCTION This paper provides data for applicants to higher education courses in the last five years ( to ). This five-year overview includes information about the characteristics relating to Access applicants and accepted applicants domiciled in the UK who applied for a full-time degree/diphe or HND through UCAS. It includes information about the age and gender of those who applied and were accepted, their ethnic origin and social class, and also identifies the most popular courses onto which they enrolled. In addition, two years of data is also included detailing MOASIC lifestyles of applicants and accepted applicants. Developed by Experian, MOSAIC is a geodemographic tool used to classify residential postcode areas into distinct neighbourhood types based on statistical information about the people who live in them. It uses a combination of census, electoral roll, housing and financial data to classify households into 12 groups (see tables 6A page 15 below). In Scotland, a separate scheme exists for Access programmes within the Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP), which offers around 50 Access programmes, with almost 7,000 enrolments since its inception in UCAS APPLICANTS AND ACCEPTED APPLICANTS Although many applicants hold more than one type of qualification, UCAS applicants are categorised according to what is considered their best qualification. Table 1A shows the main qualification of home applicants and accepted applicants to UCAS member institutions for to entries. For entry to universities and colleges in, Access and Foundation courses were consolidated under one heading; for and ensuing years, these courses were coded separately. It is therefore difficult to make comparisons between years. For and entry, there was a decrease in the number of Access applicants for university and college places, but a slight increase for entry. The increase in the number of all home applicants for entry compared to the previous year was 0.1. For Access applicants, the increase was 0.25 (17,057). This figure compares with a decrease from applicants holding Foundation certificates of 5.4 (4,994) and an increase for BTEC/ SCOVTEC qualifications of 2.9 (37,250). Applicants offering GNVQ as their main qualification increased for the fifth consecutive year by 5.9 (35,708). The decline in the number of applicants presenting Access certificates for entry follows several years when the proportion of the total number of home applicants with such qualifications had shown a steady increase. It is possible that the change may be attributed to a number of factors: the falling birth rates in the 1960s and 1970s, the saturation of the mature student market, or to the changes in student financial support in recent years. As indicated in the UCAS Press Release of 17 December : It is important to note that some 26,000 students were admitted to universities and colleges in over and above the national target. It may therefore be inferred that there would thereby be an in-built reduction in the application cohort for entry in '. Over the five period from to, the proportion of accepted home applicants holding Access certificates has declined as a percentage of the total accepted home 3

4 applicant population as can been seen in Table 1A. The table shows a steady decrease in accepted home applicants with an Access certificate, with a slight increase for entry of 0.25 (17,057). TABLE 1A - Home Applicants and Accepted Applicants by Main Qualification Main Qualification Apps Accs Apps Accs Apps Accs Apps Accs Apps Accs 2 or more A Level passes Access Baccalaureate BTEC/SCOTVEC Deg/Partial Deg Credits Foundation GNVQ None Scottish Highers Other Grand Total APPLICANTS AND ACCEPTED APPLICANTS: Age Range UCAS applicants are referred to as mature applicants if they are aged 21 years or over at 30 September of their year of entry. Table 2A shows the age range of Access applicants from to. The largest number of applicants who present Access qualifications are aged between This proportion has grown from 58.6 in, to 60.0 in. This is followed by the age-range of whom there were 22.1 in, 23.4 in. This distribution is to be expected and illustrates that Access courses are succeeding in reaching their goal of recruiting mature students. TABLE 2A - Access Applicants by Age Range Age Range Access Access Access Access Access 20 and under to to and over Grand Total Although there was an overall decrease in the number of home applicants for entry, there was a slight increase in the number of home applicants for and entries as seen in Table 2B. The number of those under 20 presenting Access qualifications declined for years to, but the per cent rose slightly for entry as in Table 2A. TABLE 2B - Other Applicants by Age Range Age Range Other Other Other Other Other 20 and under to

5 Age Range Other Other Other Other Other 25 to and over Grand Total The age range for accepted Access applicants is very similar. In the Access population, mature applicants have a higher acceptance rate as displayed in the table below, whereas for all home applicants, under 21 year olds have a higher acceptance rate (see Table 2D). TABLE 2C - Accepted Access Applicants by Age Range Age Range Access Access Access Access Access 20 and under to to and over Grand Total TABLE 2D - Other Accepted Applicants by Age Range Age Range Other Other Other Other 20 and under to to and over Grand Total Other Table 2E displays the gender split by age range of Access applicants for to. This table demonstrates clear gender differences between female and male Access applicants compared with other applicants to higher education. applicants comprise 60 of applicants applying with an Access qualification for all years. The distribution of applicants holding Access certificates indicates that those in the age category are the dominant group, with more women falling into this category than men. The figures for women have risen from 60.7 in to 62.7 in. The figures for men during the same period, however, have varied from 55.5 in to 54.9 in. It may be hypothesised that women use Access courses to return to education when domestic or child care commitments have been fulfilled and that men find it a suitable qualification when they suffer job insecurities or redundancy at various points in their lives. TABLES 2E - Access Applicants by Age and Gender Age Range 20 and under to to Total

6 Age Range 20 and under to to Total Bar Chart of Tables 2E Access Applicants - Age by Gender and under 21 to to TABLES 2F - Other Applicants by Age and Gender Age Range 20 and under to to Total Age Range 20 and under to to Total Bar Chart of Tables 2F 6

7 Other Applicants - Age by Gender and under 21 to to TABLES 2G - Accepted Access Applicants - Age by Gender Accepted Access Applicants - Age by Gender and under 21 to to Age Range 20 and under to to and over Grand Total Age Range 20 and under to to and over Grand Total TABLES 2H - Other Accepted Applicants - Age by Gender 7

8 Other Accepted Applicants - Age by Gender and under 21 to to Age Range 20 and under to to and over Grand Total Age Range 20 and under to to and over Grand Total Bar Chart of Tables 2H 3. APPLICANTS AND ACCEPTED APPLICANTS: Ethnic Origin Ethnic origin data is voluntarily provided by applicants on the UCAS application form and is withheld from institutions until after the selection process. For entry, the ethnic origin was known for 94.5 of UK applicants, and for entry The ratio of ethnic origin data may be distorted due to the fact that many applicants state Prefer not to Say on their application form. The number of home applicants whose ethnic origin is not known has increased over the five years from 19,895 in to 30,361 in. For entry, 17.4 of applicants holding an Access qualification were from an ethnic minority; 5.5 were Asian and 11.9 were Black. This figure compares with 12.2 of applicants from ethnic minorities who did not offer Access certificates, where 9.1 were Asian and 3.1 were Black. These results show that black ethnic minority groups represent a higher proportion of Access home applicants than they do of other home applicants. The acceptance figures show a similar picture. For the same year, a total of 15.3 of Access applicants from an ethnic minority were accepted (5 Asian and 10.3 Black), compared to 11.4 of accepted applicants holding another qualification (8.8 Asian and 2.6 Black). The figures for - show a similar picture. In, 18.9 of Access applicants 8

9 were from an ethnic minority (5.6 Asian and 13.2 Black) and for the figures were 19 (5.6 Asian and 13.4 Black). For entry there was a decrease in the number of Access Applicants for ethnic minority of 13 (9.8 Asian and 3.2 Black) with a similar picture for entry, 13.7 (9.9 Asian and 3.8 Black). Acceptances for applicants with an Access qualification for were 16.5 (5.0 Asian and 11.5 Black) and for 17.1 (5.2 Asian and 11.9 Black). For entry 17 Access Applicants were accepted (5.6 Asian and 11.4 Black) and for entry 16.9 were accepted (5.1 Asian and 11.8 Black). 9

10 TABLE 3A - Access Applicants by Ethnic Origin Ethnic Origin Asian Bangladeshi Asian Chinese Asian Indian Asian Other Asian Asian Pakistani Black African Black Caribbean Black Other White X Other X Unknown Grand Total TABLE 3B - Other Applicants by Ethnic Origin Ethnic Origin Asian Bangladeshi Asian Chinese Asian Indian Asian Other Asian Asian Pakistani Black African Black Caribbean Black Other White X Other X Unknown Grand Total TABLE 3C - Accepted Access Applicants by Ethnic Origin 10

11 Ethnic Origin Asian Bangladeshi Asian Chinese Asian Indian Asian Other Asian Asian Pakistani Black African Black Caribbean Black Other White X Other X Unknown Grand Total TABLE 3D - Other Accepted Applicants by Ethnic Origin Ethnic Origin Asian Bangladeshi Asian Chinese Asian Indian Asian Other Asian Asian Pakistani Black African Black Caribbean Black Other White X Other X Unknown Grand Total

12 4. APPLICANTS AND ACCEPTED APPLICANTS: Social Class The social class of the UCAS applicant is derived from a request on the application form to enter the occupation of the parent, step-parent or guardian who has the highest income in the household. If the applicant is aged 21 or over, the occupation of the person contributing the highest income is requested. Social class is coded using the Standard Occupational Classification of the ONS (Office for National Statistics). A significant proportion of Access applicants do not specify their social class. In, there were 29.5 compared with 12.3 of all UCAS applicants, and of accepted applicants with Access qualifications compared with 11.5 of all other accepted applicants. For entry the figures are similar with 31.7 of Access Applicants not specifying their social class compared with 13.1 of all UCAS applicants, and 30.7 of Accepted Access applicants compared with 12.4 of all other applicants. Lack of this information means that it is difficult for the proposition that Access provision targets those from lower social classes to be tested. CHART 4A - Social Class by Gender 10

13 TABLES 4A - Social Class by Gender 11

14 5. ACCESS APPLICANTS AND ACCEPTED APPLICANTS: Subject Groups Table 5A illustrates the distribution of applicants holding Access qualifications to the various subject groups that are offered by UCAS member institutions from to. The table uses the Standard Classification of Academic Subjects (SCAS) employed by UCAS for classifying the 50,000 courses offered by its member institutions. The number of course subjects offered through UCAS increases each year, with Social studies, Business and administration and Languages and related disciplines offering the greatest number of courses. For the five-year period under consideration, Social Studies remains the most popular subject for applicants, although the numbers applying and being accepted to this area declines each year. The second two most popular subjects are Education and Subjects allied to medicine. By contrast, the most popular subject group for all UCAS home applicants during this period is Business and administration, closely followed by Mathematical sciences and informatics, and areas of the Creative arts. TABLE 5A Access Applicants and Accepted Applicants by Subject Group Subject Group Apps Accs Apps Accs Apps Accs Apps Accs Apps Accs A Medicine/Dentistry B Subjects allied to medicine C Biological sciences D Agriculture and related subjects F Physical sciences G Mathematical sciences and informat H/J Engineering and technology K Architecture, building and planning L/M Social studies N Business and administrative studies P Mass communications and docs Q/R/T Languages and related disciplin V Humanities W Creative arts X Education Y Combined arts Y Combined sciences Y Combined social studies Y Science combined/social studies/ arts Y Social studies combined with arts z No preferred subject group Z Other general and combined studies Grand Total TABLE 5B Other Applicants and Accepted Applicants by Subject Group Subject Group Apps Accs Apps Accs Apps Accs Apps Accs Apps Accs A Medicine/Dentistry B Subjects allied to medicine C Biological sciences D Agriculture and related subjects F Physical sciences G Mathematical sciences and inform

15 H/J Engineering and technology K Architecture, building and planning L/M Social studies N Business and administrative studies P Mass communications and docs Q/R/T Languages and related disciplin V Humanities W Creative arts X Education Y Combined arts Y Combined sciences Y Combined social studies Y Science combined/social studies/ arts Y Social studies combined with arts z No preferred subject group Z Other general and combined studies Grand Total The popularity of certain subject groups differs between the age groups and gender. Table 5D indicates that male Access students accepted through UCAS are most likely to study engineering and technology and women are twice as likely to select an area in the Education group and Subjects allied to medicine. It would be reasonable to assume that women with Access certificates, of whom the majority are aged between 25 to 39 (Table 2A), are likely to have considerable experience caring and educating their children before returning to formal education. We may speculate that their application to the education and medically related areas utilises their prior learning in the domestic sphere as a foundation from which to progress into associated fields in the higher education curriculum. Access students, on the other hand, are more likely to apply to programmes of study in the information technology area and to engineering and technology courses. Less is known of this population and more work is required to ascertain how Access courses are meeting the needs of this group of applicants. TABLE 5C Access Applicants by Gender & Subject Groups Subject Group A Medicine/Dentistry B Subjects allied to medicine C Biological sciences D Agriculture and related subjects F Physical sciences G Mathematical sciences and informatics H/J Engineering and technology K Architecture, building and planning L/M Social studies N Business and administrative studies P Mass communications and documentation Q/R/T Languages and related disciplines V Humanities W Creative arts X Education Y Combined arts

16 Y Combined sciences Y Combined social studies Y Science combined with social studies/arts Y Social studies combined with arts z No preferred subject group Z Other general and combined studies Grand Total TABLE 5D Other Applicants by Gender & Subject Groups Subject Group A Medicine/Dentistry B Subjects allied to medicine C Biological sciences D Agriculture and related subjects F Physical sciences G Mathematical sciences and informatics H/J Engineering and technology K Architecture, building and planning L/M Social studies N Business and administrative studies P Mass communications and documentation Q/R/T Languages and related disciplines V Humanities W Creative arts X Education Y Combined arts Y Combined sciences Y Combined social studies Y Science combined with social studies/ arts Y Social studies combined with arts z No preferred subject group Z Other general and combined studies Grand Total TABLE 5E Accepted Access Applicants by Gender & Subject Groups Subject Group A Medicine/Dentistry B Subjects allied to medicine C Biological sciences D Agriculture and related subjects F Physical sciences G Mathematical sciences and informatics H/J Engineering and technology K Architecture, building and planning L/M Social studies N Business and administrative studies P Mass communications and documentation

17 Q/R/T Languages and related disciplines V Humanities W Creative arts X Education Y Combined arts Y Combined sciences Y Combined social studies Y Science combined with social studies or arts Y Social studies combined with arts Z Other general and combined studies Grand Total TABLE 5F Other Accepted Applicants by Gender & Subject Groups Subject Group A Medicine/Dentistry B Subjects allied to medicine C Biological sciences D Agriculture and related subjects F Physical sciences G Mathematical sciences and informatics H/J Engineering and technology K Architecture, building and planning L/M Social studies N Business and administrative studies P Mass communications and documentation Q/R/T Languages and related disciplines V Humanities W Creative arts X Education Y Combined arts Y Combined sciences Y Combined social studies Y Science combined with social studies/ arts Y Social studies combined with arts Z Other general and combined studies Grand Total APPLICANTS AND ACCEPTED APPLICANTS: MOSAIC Lifestyle MOSAIC is a geodemographic tool used to classify residential postcode areas into distinct neighbourhood types based on statistical information about the people who live in them. It uses a combination of census, electoral roll, housing and financial data to classify household into the 12 groups given in the table below. Experian s labels for the lifestyle groups range from High Income Families to Country Dwellers. Table 6A shows the number and percentage of home Access applicants and accepted applicants respectively by MOSAIC lifestyle group for and entry. It can been seen from the table, that traditionally under represented groups are well represented in the Access fraternity. The highest proportion of Access applicants and for and entry were from Victorian Low Status (17.2 and 16.8 respectively). Low Rise Council represented 12.4 of applications for entry and 12.9 for. The unknown classification includes applicants accepted with incorrect or no postcode information, or 15

18 where no match for MOSAIC is available, for instance, Northern Ireland due to the differences in postcode classification. TABLE 6A Access Applicants and Accepted Applicants by MOSAIC Lifestyle MOSAIC Lifestyle Apps Accs Apps Accs A High Income Families B Suburban Semis C Blue Collar Owners D Low Rise Council E Council Flats F Victorian Low Status G Town Houses and Flats H Stylish Singles I Independent Elders J Mortgaged Families K Country Dwellers L Institutional Areas X Not Known Grand Total TABLES 6B/C by Gender and entry Applicants entry Accepted Applicants entry MOSAIC Lifestyle A High Income Families B Suburban Semis C Blue Collar Owners D Low Rise Council E Council Flats F Victorian Low Status G Town Houses and Flats H Stylish Singles I Independent Elders J Mortgaged Families K Country Dwellers L Institutional Areas X Not Known Grand Total Applicants entry Accepted Applicants entry MOSAIC Lifestyle 16

19 A High Income Families B Suburban Semis C Blue Collar Owners D Low Rise Council E Council Flats F Victorian Low Status G Town Houses and Flats H Stylish Singles I Independent Elders J Mortgaged Families K Country Dwellers L Institutional Areas X Not Known Grand Total TABLE 6D/E MOSAIC Lifestyle by Ethnic Origin and entry Applicants Accepted Applicants MOSAIC Lifestyle White Non Not White Non Not White Known White Known A High Income Families B Suburban Semis C Blue Collar Owners D Low Rise Council E Council Flats F Victorian Low Status G Town Houses and Flats H Stylish Singles I Independent Elders J Mortgaged Families K Country Dwellers L Institutional Areas X Not Known Grand Total Accepted Applicants entry Accepted Applicants MOSAIC Lifestyle White Non Not White Non Not White Known White Known A High Income Families B Suburban Semis C Blue Collar Owners D Low Rise Council E Council Flats F Victorian Low Status G Town Houses and Flats H Stylish Singles I Independent Elders J Mortgaged Families K Country Dwellers L Institutional Areas X Not Known Grand Total

20 GRAPH 6A/B MOSAIC Lifestyle by Age and entry 18

21 Conclusion The Access qualification has established itself as a main entry route into higher education. The initial aim of the Access movement to make higher education accessible to those who, through traditional means, were not gaining entry, has succeeded. The success of Access programmes in attracting women is undeniable, as is its ability to attract mature candidates who, for various reasons, have been unable to enter higher education earlier in their lives. In particular, it is with great pleasure that the success of attracting female members of black minority communities is noted. Members of this group, in general, are not as well represented in higher education as are members of other groups. The unfinished business that the founder of the Access movement, Philip Jones, was so keen to see fulfilled, is being realised. Access is for those who constantly find themselves dealt with less favourably than others and the distinctive characteristics of Access applicants, compared to other applicants, confirms the appropriateness of the qualification. The one group that is still under-represented, both applying to and entering higher education, however, is the male black population. To a degree, Access provision is starting to attract this group too, but more needs to be done. The recent decline in Access applicants is not encouraging and every effort is needed to encourage more from the under-represented sections of society to use this route into higher education. 19