Dr Bernadette Sanderson, Director of FOCUS West, based at the University of Glasgow, discussing widening participation efforts in Scotland, and the strategies for, and the challenges associated with, helping disadvantaged students access further education. Audio and transcript available at ncsehe.edu.au

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15/07/2015

6. Bernadette Sanderson,
FOCUS West Programme,
University of Glasgow
bernadette.sanderson@glasgow.ac.uk

7. Scotland’s Progress on Widening
Access to Higher Education

8. The Good …
• Scotland has a population of 5.3M and national
participation in Higher Education (HE) is 36%
• Scottish school leavers do not normally pay fees
to study full time on courses at colleges or
universities in Scotland as the Student Awards
Agency for Scotland (SAAS) pays them in full
(though students from rest of UK pay up to £9K
per year)
• Scotland’s 19 universities/ HE institutions are
mandated by legislation to widen access to HE
(The Post-16 [Education] Scotland Act, 2013)

9. The Good (2) …
• There are 25 further education colleges in
Scotland, which provide vocational
qualifications, many of which articulate into
vocational degree courses at university.
• The school educational system has become
unified across the nursery, primary and
secondary school sectors, providing a more
aligned school experience (‘Curriculum for
Excellence’).

10. The Bad …
• Rising unemployment in Scotland … national
average of 6%, with blackspots, such as Glasgow
City, having nearly 30% of workless households
(Office for National Statistics, 2013)

11. The Bad (2)
• A Scottish Government report from July 2014 noted
that 820,000 Scots were living in poverty (around 16%
of the population) (source: Breadline Britain Poverty
and Social Exclusion Report, 2013). The number of
children living in poverty rose by 30,000 in 2011-12 to
180,000 in 2012-13.
• Despite widening access to HE programmes, there is a
high and escalating qualification entry tariff to
university access (capped places system), so many
young people from the poorest communities do not
achieve the very high grades required to get in.

12. Scottish Government maintains the
only way to achieve improvement is to
achieve independence.

13. Those in favour of
Scottish
Independence believe
that social justice is
hard to achieve while
Scotland remains part
of the UK.

14. The Reality of Working to Widen Access to HE in
Low Progression Schools …
- a lack of family mobility beyond community boundaries;
which can lead to …
- a lack of knowledge about degrees/ jobs that require
degrees; which can lead to …
- a lack of entry qualification preparedness from a child’s
early years, through primary and secondary school, to
arrive at the entry level needed for many HE courses

15. What is An Organisation like FOCUS West Doing
About This?
• Working in partnership with all the universities in the west of Scotland, to
allow more access of choice for pupils (creative degrees, technological
degrees, ‘professional’ degrees, etc.)
• Providing completely impartial information on degree choice to pupils
and schools
• Providing structured campus visits to college and university campuses for
pupils from S3 onwards
• Working on positive mindset development with pupils from S3 onwards
• At S5/6, specific class work on preparing for either HE in college, or HE in
university.
• For HE in university, one of the programme elements, Top-Up, can permit
adjusted offers to university (assessed programme that includes essay
writing, seminar participation and performance)
• Carrying out specific preparation for HE work with pupils applying for
creative degrees, either in art/ design, or music/ drama, etc.

16. Programme Summary
Continuum of activity: A mix of in-school and on-campus activities:
• S3 Campus days – college and HEI (SU)
• S4 FOCUS on 4 (SU)
• S5/6 Top Up (GU)
• S5/6 Portfolio development programme (GSA)
• S5/6 Entry to the creative industries (RCS)
• S5/6 Routes for all (GCU & UWS)
• ALL PUPILS FOCUS Point Web Resource (www.focuspoint.org.uk)
• School Partnership Officers affiliated to each school – support Parent Evenings,
UCAS Applications, etc.
• Careers Support section on FOCUS West website: www.focuswest.org.uk

19. Adjusted Offers & Widening Access to
Higher Education
• FOCUS West’s Top-Up Programme –
operational since 1999
• Consists of an academic preparation
programme undertaken by applicants to
university (involving three assessed elements)
• Research at the University of Glasgow
indicates a positive impact on student
progression and retention (Neil Croll, Alison Browitt and K.
Hedge-Holmes, Pre-Entry Widening Participation Programmes at the
University of Glasgow, 2012)

20. Top-Up students progressing to
University of Glasgow
Students completing the Top-Up Programme and entering UoG
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

21. Impact of Widening Participation Programmes - 1
• Retention and progression
of first year undergraduates
who completed the Top-Up
programme - compared to
students from the same
schools who didn’t do Top-
Up, and students from non-
GOALS comparator schools
GOALS
Top-Up
% not
progressin
g
GOALS no
Top-Up
% not
progressin
g
non-
GOALS
comparato
r % not
progressin
g
2001 1 19.4% 25.8% 26.3%
2002 2 17.4% 19.4% 16.8%
2003 2 13.6% 26.7% 18.7%
2004 11.1% 32.9% 18.1%
2005 26.4% 18.9% 19.3%
2006 22.4% 26.7% 17.5%
2007 27.6% 21.7% 13.8%
2008 13.8% 22.6% 16.1%
2009 14.4% 17.3% 15.3%
2001 -
2009 18.1% 23.8% 18.4%
1 Walker, L, Matthew, B and Black, F, 2004. 'Widening access and student non-completion: an inevitable link? Evaluating the effects of the Top-Up Programme
on student completion', International Journal of Lifelong Education, 23: 1, 43 — 59
2 Croll, N. & Copsey, D., presented at Forum for Access & Continuing Education conference, 2005, University College Cork, Ireland

22. Impact of Widening Participation Programmes - 2
• Retention and Progression of first
year undergraduates who attended
Summer School – continuation of
studies at the University after Year
1 compared to students from
GOALS schools who didn’t do Top-
Up, and students from non-GOALS
comparator schools
Summer
School
% not
continuin
g
GOALS
no Top-
Up %
not
continuin
g
non-
GOALS
comparato
r % not
continuing
2004 16.7% 24.4% 15.0%
2005 18.9% 8.9% 13.8%
2006 17.6% 16.7% 13.2%
2007 11.5% 18.1% 13.4%
2008 11.3% 17.9% 10.4%
2009 13.5% 14.7% 12.9%
2004-
2009 13.9% 16.7% 13.2%

23. Is the Use of Advancing Technology One
Solution to Widen Access to HE?
www.focuspoint.
org.uk

25. Questions and Discussion!
• Clarification
• Explanation
• Agreement
• Development

26. Contact:
Bernadette Sanderson
bernadette.sanderson@glasgow.ac.uk