Monitoring and evaluation arrangements The widening participation agenda, retention rates and success across the student lifecycle are overseen by the University’s Student Access and Progress Committee. The Committee chaired by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) and with representation from the Guild of Students, receives and considers regular reports and analysis of institutional performance in a range of areas (such as continuation rates, student equality benchmarks, HESA performance Indicators, student experience surveys, outreach activity evaluation, etc.). In addition, the University Education Committee, also chaired by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) and with representation from the Guild, receives an annual progress report, approves WPSA and OFFA reporting and considers the annual report from the Academic Skills Centre. Within the University’s Outreach team there is a dedicated Officer with specific responsibility for evaluation; this post works closely with Outreach Officers and with Aimhigher on the evaluation of activities. The Outreach Evaluation Strategy for 2015-2018 supports our commitment to evidence-based practice in widening participation and outreach, and to facilitating a culture of learning and continuous improvement. We are committed to generating evidence-based information from timely and robust evaluations to inform and support our outreach work. The overall aim of the Evaluation Strategy is to provide a framework for producing high quality evidence-based monitoring and evaluation information to support learning, improvement, innovation, accountability and strategic decision-making. The key objectives of the strategy are to: Support the generation of evaluation evidence to improve fair access to higher education by: o Understanding what we do; o Identifying what approaches work in promoting fair access and social mobility; o Identifying where we can improve to increase the effectiveness of our widening participation policies and interventions; and o Supporting strategic decision making and allocation of resources. Provide direction on our approach to evaluation to ensure information generated is robust, relevant and useful Provide a framework for future evaluations and linking them to strategic decision-making by setting out the key focus areas for evaluations and the main evaluation questions they will seek to address Provide a plan for outreach evaluations over the next 3 years, which will be reviewed and updated annually. We have a comprehensive evaluation programme for our Access to Birmingham programme including monitoring of applications through to acceptance and tracking students through to graduation and employment. Aimhigher West Midlands undertakes comprehensive evaluation of the impact of its interventions via a PhD-linked research project including both control and experimental groups. Tracking suggests that engagement in Aimhigher intervention during Key Stage 3 and 4 generates increased aspiration towards higher education (+12.5% above non-participants) and improved KS4 attainment. The proportion of Aimhigher-engaged Pupil Premium learners attaining 5 GCSEs at A* - C including English and maths exceeded that of regional Pupil Premium learners over the three years 2011/12 to 2013/14. Research1 suggests that ongoing GCSE reform over the period of this Agreement (the introduction of a 9-point grade system and Progress / Attainment 8 measures) will reduce national attainment, and that this may have a disproportionate impact on outcomes for disadvantaged learners. We have re-framed our GCSE impact targets to reflect past performance and the likely impact of ongoing curriculum reform. Our tracking of beneficiaries into higher education has been delayed by the refusal of UCAS to release learner level data. This has necessitated the use of HESA data, allowing us to track our first cohort, who entered higher education in 2013 and were retained 1 xxxx://xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx/live/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/education-in-england-web.pdf for 6 months. We have revised our targets accordingly and have also removed the NS –SEC measure for this target. The Realising Opportunities Pilot project has undergone extensive evaluation looking at the outcomes for learners and the wider impact of the partnership. This continues to inform the future of the scheme. Equality and Diversity Our students and staff are key to achieving excellence and to delivering the objectives outlined in our Strategic Framework 2015-2020. Our linked Equality Scheme recognises the need to encourage each and every student to flourish whilst removing barriers to success. Equality is central to our core mission to be a global force in teaching and research, and the creation of a new Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Equalities to lead institutional development in this area reflects that commitment. The University’s Equality Scheme 2016-2020 has been developed around themes of inclusiveness, attainment, flexibility and embedding. As part of the development of the objectives we consulted with students to identify actions they felt the University should take to improve equality; and we have sought to address this feedback in our objectives. Progress against objectives will be reviewed annually as part of the Equality and Diversity Assurance Report to Council. The University has been taking action to address the 11.5% (2014) attainment gap between BME students and white students achieving a first or upper second class honours degree. We have delivered innovative mentoring and employability schemes for BME students, providing them with practical skills and role models for success in the workplace. The BME ambassador scheme, an initiative part-funded by the HEA, involves students engaging with staff in Schools and Departments to consider actions that can be taken to improve BME student inclusion, representation, engagement and to promote race equality. This project has been widely cited across the UK HE sector as an example of good practice in engaging and listening to BME students. A website dedicated to supporting the success of BME students was launched in 14/15, and a supporting online platform for staff will be launched in 2016 with the aim of capturing, monitoring and evaluating the impact of ambassador activity. In 2015, School Equality and Diversity Champions have been tasked with working with BME student ambassadors to identify the issues that impact on their experiences, and have been asked to develop an action plan that identifies activities to make a positive difference. There are over 200 BME students who are ambassadors and 10 College student leads. Ongoing institutional resource has been earmarked for the project and, following the launch of the online portal, the project will be evaluated in July 2017. The ethnicity attainment gap is a sector-wide issue and forms much of the focus of work with students on equality issues in universities today. This is an area of activity that we will continue to pursue in relation to our work towards the ECU’s Race Equality Mark. During 2016, we will evaluate current initiatives, such as the BME ambassador scheme, and deliver sessions for staff on understanding and developing race equality for students. We will, however, expand this work to identify and address differences in completion rates and attainment amongst other groups, such as LGBT and trans students, mature students, disabled students and those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Around 6% of all University of Birmingham students have dependents. The University is one of only a handful that collects this information at registration and we are therefore now able to monitor the progression and retention of student parents. Since 2010, the University has helped support student parents establish a Guild Association, produce a pregnancy, maternity and paternity policy, and work towards a more inclusive curriculum that recognizes the needs of students with caring responsibilities. From 2015/16 we have further enhanced the support offered to student carers. Students will be identified at the point of registration (through self-selection), and offered support from the Vulnerable Student Officer who will work with the student to develop a Carer’s Support Plan and will oversee implementation of the Plan within the student’s home School. This development has been informed by consultation with student carers and Welfare Tutors. LGBT students have been supported by a mentoring scheme that was launched in 2012 called ‘Come Out, Stay Out’. In 2015 there were around 25 professional mentors, most being University staff, supporting over 30 student mentees. Around 3% of students identified as LGB in 2015, whilst over 50% did not select the option to tell us their sexual identity at registration. Students are encouraged to disclose, and information is available at registration to explain the benefits of informing the University. In addition we are developing and promoting trans-inclusive practices, including gender- neutral facilities and developing activities to improve understanding amongst our wider community of trans issues. To support the development and promotion of religious literacy and integration on campus the University has worked with a number of community organisations including local mosques and religious schools. The University’s Good Campus Relations Group comprises of members from community groups and works towards the promotion of understanding and representation of different faith groups. The University has an excellent data collection and analysis system and, as part of its annual review of academic programmes, ensures that Schools consider the recruitment and performance data of students in the protected characteristics and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Schools report issues emanating from the data to the University’s Quality Assurance and Enhancement Committee, chaired by the PVC (Education); the Committee then monitors how the Schools work towards making improvements. This process is supported through targeted Student Equality Reports, which are disseminated to Schools outlining any identified issues. We are fully committed to ensuring that anyone with the aspiration and ability can gain access, progress and achieve success at the University regardless of any disability. As a result of the proposals around the reduction in funding and support by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the form of the Disabled Students’ Allowances from 2016/17 onwards, a panel of specialist and senior staff, chaired by the Director of Student Services, was convened. This Group, launched initially in September 2014, has continued to meet during the 2015/16 academic year. The focus of the work is to review the government proposals to ensure that the University gives full consideration to how it will continue to support its disabled students in the light of reductions and amendments to the Disabled Students’ Allowance. The challenges of creating a physically accessible campus have been highlighted by students and staff in the Equality Scheme consultation as a key priority for the University, and we have undertaken significant work to improve accessibility across campus. During 2016 we will develop a forum for students and staff to raise accessibility issues and to comment on campus developments to ensure the diverse needs of our community are reflected. Provision of Information to Prospective Students The priorities for communications to prospective students are that we provide clear and timely advice and information which is enhanced by our extended programme of face-to-face communications with students in school and their advisors, including parents and teachers. Market research continues to be conducted with students, prospective students and their parents in the development and focus of our messages, our choice of information channels and to determine which information is of most importance to prospective students. Recruitment activities for the 17/18 cohort of students are already underway. The Guild contributes to the Undergraduate Prospectus for all potential students. Details of fees and funding arrangements are available on the University website; details are regularly updated as part of the Key Information Set initiative. Subscribers to our online customer relationship management system (CRM) are provided with personalised messages about fees and funding packages as well as the opportunity for online chat sessions with Funding Advisors. The University provides information to UCAS and the SLC in order to populate their information channels. Face-to-face contact is recognised as one of the most influential channels of information, providing opportunities for prospective students and their parents to understand the fees and funding regime. We ensure that University recruitment staff are experts in the current arrangements at Government and University level. Advisors on each of the outreach programmes are kept up-to-date on all aspects of student fees and support so that they can provide detailed and expert advice to students (and, wherever possible, their parents) participating in the A2B programme, as well as the other progressive programmes outlined in this document. We have provided authoritative information about the fees regime which has ensured that younger students have not been deterred from considering a university career in the future for fear of debt. Finally, at the point at which the OFFA Agreement is confirmed, the University will produce a ‘Money Matters’ booklet. The booklet provides information about the fee, the University’s financial package including sport and music scholarships and a link to our searchable funding database, alongside an explanation of the statutory support package offered by the Student Loans Company. It forms a key part of the communications to our WP students, and is distributed at all talks, visits and events, and made available online. The booklet is well received and is an essential part of our recruitment activity. Consultation with Students Representatives from the Guild of Students have been engaged in the drafting of this Agreement. This Access Agreement is considered at a number of senior University committees which include formal representation from the Guild of Students, including the Vice-President (Welfare). The initiatives and activities detailed in this document are formulated following extensive evaluation of student feedback. For instance, the University developed the “Students with Children” Welcome and Orientation event following feedback from the Student Parents and Carers’ Group. The “Student Survival Guide” was written by students for students, and many of our students are
