Evaluation of the Villiers Park Scholars Programme

The Brunel Urban Scholars programme was set up against plethora of research suggesting that Widening Participation initiatives had done little to improve the uptake of university education by those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The Brunel Urban Scholars programme is a 4 year intervention programme aimed at supporting higher ability students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, aged 12-16. The programme collects a wide variety of both quantitative and qualitative data, and using a Design Research Methodology, the programme is rigorously monitored. The paper discusses the emerging findings after 2 years. It suggests the biggest change is to scholars' confidence; a number of components of the programme are cited which may have encouraged this. Changes in aspirations seemed slower to achieve. This supports findings from pilot programmes; justifying and calling for longer intervention programmes.

2018

2014

List of figures 5 List of tables 6 Table 10. Whether Pupil Premium is used to fund aspiration-raising activities Table 11. How Pupil Premium has helped fund aspiration-raising activities Recent research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies 4 also suggests that the socioeconomic gap in participation is actually narrowing. The paper concluded that one possible reason for a reduction in the gap was that, as participation in HE declined slightly as tuition fees were raised in 2006/7, this decline (perhaps counter-intuitively) was slightly 'more pronounced among those from better-off'. Why this may be the case is unclear but the authors suggested that the changes to student finance policy may be 'more progressive' than originally thought by some parties. Furthermore, a report by the Institute of Education (Department of Quantitative Social Science) 5 also in 2012 highlighted the lack of social mobility in the UK and US compared with other western economies (namely Canada and Australia). The paper concluded that 'young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in England are five time 2 Corver, M (2007) 'Patterns of young participation in higher education: A geographical analysis of England 1994-2000'. PhD thesis. Bristol: University of Bristol. 3 Trends in young participation in higher education: core results for England, (HEFCE) 2010. 4 Socioeconomic gaps in HE participation: how have they changed over time?, IFS Briefing Note BN133, November 2012 5 Jerrim, J., A. Vignoles and R. Finnie (2012) University access for disadvantaged children: A comparison across English speaking countries, DoQSS Working Paper No. 12-1, Institute of Education, London. less likely to enter university than their more advantaged peers'. The paper acknowledged that much of the difference between socio economic groups may be related to school achievement (although the difference did persist). Other sources 6 suggest that attainment gaps account for the majority of variation in attendance and that gaps in attendance by socioeconomic factors are substantially reduced once prior attainment is controlled for. Nevertheless gaps in participation rates persist and these are most noticeable when looking at participation in 'selective or leading' 7 HE institutions in the UK 8. This is the case for universities that form the Russell Group and this is one of the key driving factors behind the current research. One of DfE's key measures of disadvantage in schools is eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM). HE participation rates among FSMeligible pupils are particularly low. In fact, according to data published by the Sutton Trust in 2010 9 , during 2005-2008, 'at the 25 most academically selective universities' in England, only 2 per cent of the UK undergraduate student intake was made up of FSM pupils. This compared with 72 per cent of 'other' state school pupils and 26 per cent from independent schools. Indeed, the participation of young people from disadvantaged areas in these most selective universities has not increased since the mid-1990s and remains very low: only about two per cent of those from the most disadvantaged areas enter these universities 10 .

2006

Parent survey 4 2.3 Parent interviews 4 3. Pupil survey 6 3.1 Main P6 pupil survey 6 3.2 Sub-sample based on parental survey 16 3.3 Summary 18 4. Evidence from interviews relating to parents' educational aspirations for their children 20 4.1 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ GOALS survey ii Quality in Education P6 pupils and further and higher education University of Strathclyde Summary ___________________________________________________________________________________________ GOALS survey iii Quality in Education P6 pupils and further and higher education University of Strathclyde (measured by free school meals entitlement) and geographical location. Since over 90% of the interview consent forms had been completed by a female parent or carer, there are only four male interviewees in the sample. Sixty-seven per cent of the parents in the sample of 147 parents from which the 40 interviewees were drawn had taken part in training or study since leaving school, and 55% of these parents had gained their qualification in further or higher education. Given the parents' qualifications, and their willingness to invest time in being interviewed, it is possible that the sample is unavoidably biased towards parents who are particularly aware of the need to attend to their children's post-sixteen education and training. Findings from the pupil survey Knowledge and awareness of further and higher education The responses indicate that pupils were more aware of university provision than the opportunities offered by further education. In response to 5 questions on each, 49% answered 4 or 5 questions correctly in relation to universities, while only 25% answered 4 or 5 questions correctly in relation to further education colleges. A higher proportion of the pupils selected 'not sure' when answering the questions about further education. Responses also indicated that more than half were unclear about the kind of job preparation that occurs in both further and higher education. Aspirations Overall, 43% indicated that they would like to go to university, 22% indicated that they wanted to get a job on leaving school (at 16, 17 or 18), 13% opted for further education, 13% made other suggestions and 7% did not know. The lower mention of further education aligns with the apparent lower levels of awareness of opportunities provided by further education. Fifty percent of the girls, compared with 37% of the boys, said they wanted to go to university. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ GOALS survey iv Quality in Education P6 pupils and further and higher education University of Strathclyde for not participating. With respect to not wanting to spend many years studying, 77% of the girls disagreed with this, while only 55% of the boys disagreed. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ GOALS survey v Quality in Education P6 pupils and further and higher education University of Strathclyde • those whose parents have not participated in further or higher education may be more likely to see the delay in starting to earn money as a barrier. Findings from the parent interviews The following themes emerged from the interviews with parents: Theme Sub-theme Sample parent talk High hopes-support for Further and Higher Education but uncertain about future attainment and interests Going with the grain Children will 'fit in' at University or college ___________________________________________________________________________________________ GOALS survey 1 Quality in Education P6 pupils and further and higher education University of Strathclyde ___________________________________________________________________________________________ GOALS survey 6 Quality in Education P6 pupils and further and higher education University of Strathclyde 3. GOALS pupil survey 3.1 Main P6 pupil survey ___________________________________________________________________________________________ GOALS survey 20 Quality in Education P6 pupils and further and higher education University of Strathclyde 4. Evidence from interviews relating to parents' educational aspirations for their children 4.1

Student Attainment in Higher Education, 2016

St. James Press eBooks, 1998

John G. Younger Because of the disparate nature of the material I am describing here, and the different kinds of audiences it targets, I shall use a terminology that includes lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people and transsexuals (LGBT) within the more inclusive term "queer"; I shall avoid using the word 'gay' as the umbrella term, except when it forms part of a title. In describing academic developments in queer studies, I shall focus on the undergraduate curriculum and experience at more than 130 universities and colleges (see Appendix); information about them comes from a variety of sources, including their published bulletins, their own World-Wide Web homepages and personal communications from students, faculty, and staff. I shall also focus on developments in LGBT resources, not on the repressive and homophobic environments (although see below, "Campus Life") that still can be found at most state-supported and private universities and colleges; there are environments that can become noticeably hostile from time to time, but which are becoming more accepting as the subject itself has become more acceptable. I do not, however, include religious-affiliated institutions: the conservative nature of their supporting regimes has only infrequently allowed these institutions to explore an environment that accepts queer people or academic discussions of LGBT issues. The undergraduate LGBT experience is relatively rich when compared to High School and graduate environments. High School students seem to be coming out more and more (within the past couple of years "out" first-year college students have increased dramatically); and many secondary schools try to provide sympathetic environments, with some diversity course-work, LGBT faculty representatives and counselors, and other resources, especially in the face of an alarming suicide rate for queer teens. 2 Nonetheless, only private high schools 1 I am grateful to the editor for inviting me to contribute this chapter; I also wish to thank

This case study analysis of the Able and Talented programme, prepared by the Institute for Access Studies, Staffordshire University, presents an analysis of data drawn from students and staff at one Further Education College during the 2007/2008 academic year. The analysis aimed to explore practice and examine the impact of participation upon students.

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