spa - janet graham
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SPA Janet Graham, Director, Supporting Professionalism in AdmissionsTRANSCRIPT
SPA and fair HE Admissions in the new competitive environmentAccess to HE summit 3 December 2013
Janet Graham, Director of SPA
What is SPA?
Set up in 2006 following the Schwartz Report Fair Admissions to Higher Education: Recommendations for Good Practice 2004
“ The Group recommends the creation of a central source of expertise and advice on admissions issues. Its purpose would be to act as a resource for institutions who wish to maintain and enhance excellence in admissions. Such a centre could lead the continuing development of fair admissions, evaluating and commissioning research, and spreading best practice.”
UK’s independent, fully funded (normally free at the point of delivery) and objective voice on fair HE admissions
Small team, but with practical and relevant experience
“Equal opportunity for all individuals, regardless of background, to gain admission to a course suited to their ability and aspirations.”
What is Fair Admissions?
1. be transparent
2. enable institutions to select students who are able to complete the course as judged by their achievements and their potential
3. strive to use assessment methods that are reliable and valid
4. seek to minimise barriers to applicants
5. be professional in every respect and underpinned by appropriate institutional structures and processes
Fair admissions and fair access: what’s the difference?
If fair admissions covers the five principles, is fair access about getting more disadvantaged students into ‘top’ universities? Supporting the most able but least likely to apply?
Yes, but that’s only part of the issue
Raising aspirations and encouraging and supporting all students with potential to aim higher for an HE course that is right for them at an institution that can provide what they need, when they need it - full-time, part-time, flexible or distance learning etc
External policy drivers impacting admissions
External policy drivers impacting admissions
Increasing divergence in the HE policy frameworks round the UK but HE providers recruit UK-wide
External policy drivers impacting admissions
Changes and developments to the Pre-HE curriculum
Issues round advice and guidance for potential students
Tuition fees and student finance – policy varies round UK
Demographics - Fewer young applicants until 2020
Fair admissions in a competitive landscape
Competition between HE providers is growing.
There is an increasing need to seek out students with potential from a wider
range of backgrounds.
What is contextualised admissions?
Contextualised admissions is defined as contextual information and contextual data used by HE providers to assess an applicant’s prior attainment and potential to succeed in higher education in the context of the circumstances in which their attainment has been obtained.
Why is contextual data used?
Academic Excellence
Competition
Evidence-base
Increase applicant pool
External policy drivers
Diversity as pedagogical value
Fair admissions
“We are very aware of the differences out there, and it’s obvious when students come to study with us that the brightest sparks do not always come with the best grades.”
Contextualised admissions and holistic assessment
Fair admissions in a competitive landscape
So does this mean moving away from academic rigor and high standards? No.
It is about supporting the delivery of fair admissions and maintaining high academic standards.
It is about seeking excellence by identifying the ‘best’ applicants with the greatest potential and likelihood of a successful degree outcome.
Strategic importance of contextualised admissions:
Facilitates reaching targets
Improves calibre of entrants
through identifying potential
Widens participation and
enhances diversity of the student body
Supports the applicant
experience
Could aid social mobility
Helps delivery of fair admissions
Helps assess applicants for financial support
Helps identify applicants who may benefit from
additional support
Scientific ‘Gold standard’: good, individual-level data
Caveats:
Data availability
Expertise and cost
Limitations (often young, UK domiciled HE applicants)
Outreach or / and admissions
Area
School
Household
Individual
Evidence 1:What matters for measuring academic potential?
Evidence 2: Same grades same potential
Students from different types of school perform differently.
In the majority of research, those from state schools outperform independent school students or those from poorer performing schools outperform those from higher performing schools
(Oxford, Bristol, Cardiff, HEFCE, Scottish institution)
This is not confirmed in one case study where school did not affect degree results
(Cambridge)
Studies use different ways of thinking about and measuring disadvantage as well as attainment.
Recommendations for HE admissions
Rationale and understanding Conceptual clarity – from SPA Sharing expertise, good practice and networking Communication
Data and indicators Centralised data provision Data transfer
Research Long term comparative research Other admissions Different provider contexts
Basket of Data
Educational Background
School performance: % of students achieving 5+ GCSEs A*-C including English and Maths (or equivalent in Scotland)
Average point score by school “best 8” GCSEs (or Standard grade SCQF level 4 equivalent performance)
mean QCA points per A level and per student (or equivalent in Scotland)
Socio-Economic Background
% of students entitled to free school meals by School (historical data only by Local Authority)
% of students entitled to EMA (not England)
Lives in a low progression to higher education neighbourhood (POLAR 2 and 3) derived from postcode
SIMD Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SFC version)
Supplied by UCAS, if universities and colleges sign up to take it.
Initial basket of data for HEIs, free, via UCAS for 2014
SPA College HE Community of Practice Group
Building an evidence base of current practice seeking out existing good practice;
Assessing practices and procedures in HE admissions and adapting SPA’s existing good practice if appropriate and/or developing new practice for FE College use;
Raising awareness of the Group’s work with FE Colleges offering HE in their regions;
Disseminating relevant information to FE Colleges offering HE in their regions;
Promoting the professionalism of admissions with FE Colleges offering HE in their regions and with the wider College HE admissions community.
Part-time admissions – fair admissions and good practice
Review Thomas report and implications for SPA’s work
Input to sector bodies and other stakeholder groups with regard to PT admissions
Build mailing/contact list of PT admissions practitioners within HE providers, with potential to develop into community of practice
Update SPAs Good Practice Statement and Checklist on PT
admissions Produce guidelines on PT admissions – e.g. data to be collected
and rationale for doing so
The applicant experience www.spa.ac.uk/applicant-experience
Built under four broad stages, as part of student journey
Adopted a behavioural view of ‘experience’
Interactive participation and engagement,
not a passive journey
Linked and underpinned through effective
information, advice and guidance
pre-application
applicationpost-
applicationtransition
ing ingsing
The applicant experience www.spa.ac.uk/applicant-experience
A good applicant experience is mutually beneficial to both the
applicant and the higher education provider
prepares, informs and provides equality of opportunity to enter higher education
should accurately match the student’s aims, abilities and aspirations with the character of the institution
therefore improves student retention and enhances the strategic mission of the institution
A poor applicant experience is inherently detrimental to both the
applicant and the higher education
provider – both lose out perpetuates barriers to entry disengages potential applicants and
their advisors risks incongruence between student
expectations and institutional character therefore embeds an enrolment strategy
leading to unfulfilled potential and increased drop-out
is mutually beneficial to both the applicant and the higher education providerprepares, informs and provides equality of opportunity to enter higher education
should accurately match the student’s aims, abilities and aspirations with the character of the institution
therefore improves student retention and enhances the strategic mission of the institution
is inherently detrimental to both the applicant and the higher education provider
both lose out
perpetuates barriers to entry
disengages potential applicants and their advisorsrisks incongruence between student expectations and institutional charactertherefore embeds an enrolment strategy leading to unfulfilled potential and increased drop-out
Building an applicant experience strategy
monitor
mea
sure
institution mission and values
strategic aims policies
pre-application stage processes
application stage processes
post-application stage processes
transition stage processes
key interactions
linking interactions
IPG integrated practitioner
groups / communities
key interactions
key interactions
key interactions
linking interactions
linking interactions
IPG integrated practitioner
groups / communities
IPG integrated practitioner
groups / communities
IPG integrated practitioner
groups / communities
IPG integrated practitioner
groups / communities
IPG integrated practitioner
groups / communities
IPG integrated practitioner
groups / communities
enablers (staff; systems; funds)
The Applicant Experience Strategy
Strategic leadership in admissions is integral to an institution’s learning and teaching strategy, management and planning.
SPA’s view is that an applicant experience strategy underpins the student experience, it supports the management and processes of both academic and professional staff.
The benefits for the institution should be more integrated ways of working, with possible efficiency gains enhanced staff professionalism and understanding of strategy improved quality practices and procedures which may give competitive
advantage, enhance reputation and aid retention ability to take advantage of external changes quickly
The benefits for the applicant: transparency, a better experience
Janet Graham
Thank you. Questions and discussion.
www.spa.ac.uk