Progress in widening participation

By Professor Judith Squires and Lucy Collins, Director of Home Recruitment and Conversion

Inclusivity and diversity are central to the University’s mission: the ambition to be a University fully integrated into the communities we serve was a central pillar of the 2016 University Strategy, as was the aim to be a ‘destination of choice’ for students from all backgrounds. In the last four years, thanks to support from colleagues across the University, real progress has been made. While there’s still a great deal more to do, we should be proud of what we’ve achieved and reflect on the benefits of a socially diverse student community.

How far have we come?

End of cycle data indicates that our 2020-21 first-year intake will be our most diverse yet. 74% of them come from state schools, up from 65% in 2016-17. In the last year, we have increased our proportion of students from low participation neighbourhoods, the local area, mature learners and those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. We have also tackled the challenge of reducing the gap between the most socio-economically advantaged (POLAR 5) and the least (POLAR 1) – more than halving the difference since 2016.

This progress matters. It matters in terms of meeting our widening participation targets with the Office for Students (OfS), but more importantly, it matters because we are now recruiting brilliant students who previously may not previously have studied with us.

How have we got here?

Bristol has always strived to be a socially diverse institution, but what’s driven our recent progress in in this space?

I think the answer lies in our determination to be more radical. To recognise that the structural disadvantage students from under-represented groups face requires structural change. To see that it’s not enough to hope that students who attend schools and colleges with low progression rates to higher education, from neighbourhoods where university was not the norm, who have caring responsibilities or faced a disrupted education, would simply find their way to us and meet the terms of our standard offers. Rather than expecting students to assimilate to us, we needed to disrupt our own admissions process.

We started with Bristol Scholars. Launched in 2016-17, Bristol Scholars took a radical new approach to widening access. It aimed to capture the talent we knew existed in our locality, demonstrate the University’s commitment to Bristol’s schools and colleges and provide alternative entry routes into our programmes to those who would otherwise be excluded due to our high entry requirements.

Meeting with some of the first cohort of Bristol Scholars in 2017.

At the heart of the Bristol Scholars scheme was a determination to move beyond traditional methods of identifying talent to reach those with potential. The scheme recognised the impact of educational and domestic disadvantage on students’ predicted grades and invested Headteachers and Directors of Post-16 with the power to identify those students who would benefit most. Abandoning our standard approach to admissions, Bristol Scholars received tailored offers of up to four grades below the typical offer, with additional support provided in Year 13 and into their first year of university.

Our Bristol Scholars are a diverse group. Of the 2019 intake, 85% live in POLAR 1 or 2 neighbourhoods, 91% attended a state school or college and 33% were part of the Free School Meals cohort. Many have experienced profound educational and domestic challenges – some have recently arrived in the country as refugees, others have been victims of crime, acted as young carers, or experienced significant mental and physical health issues. All have lived up to the potential identified by their nominees.

Our first cohort, the class of 2020, secured impressive results. Despite having entered the University with grades well below our standard entry requirements, outcomes were nonetheless strong. With a continuation rate of 90%, 18% graduated with a first, 55% with a 2:1 and 27% with a 2:2.

There was no template for the Bristol Scholar’s scheme, no evidence base from which we could predict the success, or otherwise, of the programme. We launched with a belief that a radical new approach was needed to widening access, that we would commit to the programme and learn lessons.

This continues to be our approach. Recognising the critical role that admissions play in diversifying our student community, we have extended our contextual offer scheme and launched a guarantee offer for students on our targeted outreach schemes (reaching almost 2,000 a year). We have committed to raising more than £1million for a new range of scholarships which will support around 130 Black and mixed-Black heritage students over the next four years at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and are developing a range of flexible entry routes.

Finally, our ambition extends beyond our own student body and into the community of which we are a part. Through the Venturers Trust, we now sponsor nine schools within the City of Bristol, a mixture of primary, secondary, sixth form and specialist provision. All these schools serve highly diverse communities, many with very high levels of socio-economic disadvantage. We play an active role on the Board of the Trust as well as providing Governors in all schools, ensuring the best possible outcomes for all students.

Building on our progress

The last four years have shown that bold thinking, a desire to challenge orthodoxy and a commitment to structural change, can lead to a more diverse student community. With the help of colleagues from across the University, we look forward to attracting even more brilliant students from under-represented groups in the years ahead.

The Global Lounge is here (and also popping up over there)

It’s a confusing time to be an advocate for internationalisation. Our societies, our economies and our popular culture are irrepressibly international, but the political discourse around us is intent on maligning it. As someone who has lived in nine countries (for an average of five years each!), multiculturalism is so ingrained in me that I stare agape at efforts to contain it.

From where I sit, safeguarding the provision of an international and multicultural educational experience for all of our students is an absolute priority. That’s why I’m so pleased that, earlier this month, the Anson Rooms came alive with a distinctly international flavour when over 300 students and staff helped to launch the University of Bristol Global Lounge, a central component of our internationalisation strategy. For those who were unable to attend, a summary has been published on the staff and PGR intranet.

Although the University of Bristol has had a fundamentally international outlook since its establishment over 100 years ago, recent years have seen a more purposeful focus on internationalisation as a strategic priority at the institutional level. The Global Lounge concept speaks to two of the objectives in the current internationalisation strategy: to provide all students with an international and multicultural campus experience; and to ensure that our international students are well supported and integrated into the overall campus community. Having seen Global Lounges used to great effect at a number of universities around the world, most notably at University College Dublin, where I had the opportunity to open one in 2011, I have been convinced that Bristol, too, would benefit from having such a resource.

Members of the audience at the Global Lounge launch

Ahead of the opening of its permanent home in Senate House in 2021, the Global Lounge will for now operate in pop-up mode from a variety of locations. This ‘moveable feast’ approach will not only allow the Global Lounge’s activities to become familiar to students and staff across the campus, it will also allow us to refine our understanding of the types of activities and physical infrastructure that we want to prioritise in due course in Senate House.

Far from being simply targeted at international students, the activities run under the Global Lounge umbrella are designed with the entire campus community in mind. A significant schedule of events will be developed with a view to celebrating diversity and multiculturalism on campus – events such as national day celebrations, major international events (including sporting competitions!) and religious holidays. It is a platform that can be used any anyone who wishes to promote or share globally themed activities, and it will also play a very important part in welcoming our growing international student population to the University and making sure that they have a home on campus. Please do contact our Global Lounge team if you have any ideas for events or initiatives that they could support.

Event posters at the Global Lounge launch

The Global Lounge will also work with the wider Bristol community, charities and local organisations to provide an opportunity for the public to get involved in University life, and for our students to become more involved with their city.

This new resource can only exist through a strong collaboration with our Students’ Union. I’m delighted to see that Bristol SU and the Global Lounge have already established a strong partnership and are working together brilliantly on this initiative.

The Global Lounge website is now live. Take a look, book yourself a ticket to one of the exciting events that are lined up, and come and find out what Global Lounge is all about.

At a time when some of the loudest politicians advocate our becoming more insular, I stand firm in my support for an unashamedly international campus. The Global Lounge is a powerful expression of that intent.

 

Bristol SU Awards 2019

By Professor Sarah Purdy, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience).

The last week of term was an exciting mix of celebrations and events, but the real highlight for me was being a guest at the Bristol SU Awards on Thursday 13 June. The SU awards recognise individuals or groups who have done a brilliant job in areas as diverse as student leadership, sustainability, being a fantastic staff member, or an exceptional club or society. Nominations come from students, SU and university staff, so the Awards really reflect the SU-university partnership.

The event itself was incredible. The Anson Rooms were transformed from a functional event space into a glamorous and atmospheric venue with great food and fantastic live entertainment from Jazz Funk Soul, Hindu Soc (who later won Society of the Year), UkeSoc, plus an amazingly energetic Salsa performance. But, of course, it was the nominees and award winners that stole the show. The incredible enthusiasm shown by the audience for the winners was infectious. I can’t do justice to all the awards but will give you a brief picture, so you get the idea. The full list of nominees is on the SU website.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Hugh Brady, presented the student leader award to Amy-Leigh Hatton for her work as president of Student Action for Refugees. This was followed by a sustainability award for Maddie Kunkler for her leadership of the RAG, Volunteering and Sustainability Network and a volunteering award recognising Shivali Sharma’s work with Nightline. The Bristol Student Staff Solidarity Group won the Campaigns Award and the BME Network the Equality and Diversity Award.

It is inspirational to learn more about the contribution students make to the lives of their fellow students and the wider university. The winner of the Education Award, Sally Emerson has been Faculty of Science UG Rep and Chair of the Education Network during 2018-19 and Ed Southgate and Cameron Scheijde have edited Epigram, earning them the Student Media Award. Of course, staff too were recognised including Robiu Salisu with the University Staff Member Award for his work as BAME Student Inclusion Officer and Monica Pacek from the SU for her contribution to student engagement. Finally, the collaboration award went to the amazing East meets West initiative and the sports club of the year award to Women’s Football.

The event was hosted by the outgoing Sabbatical Officer team and their fellow student leaders – with Oscar ceremony levels of glamour but better speeches. Thank so much to the SU for hosting the event and inviting me to attend – and a huge well done to all the winners and nominees.