Our risks to equality of opportunity

Students may lack equal opportunities to develop the necessary knowledge and skills for Higher Education. In Northamptonshire, school attainment levels are below national averages, with significant gender differences. Male students, in particular, face knowledge and skills gaps, as shown by lower application rates and less frequent use of academic support. Addressing these issues in collaboration with our school partners is crucial for ensuring equal opportunities for all students.

Students may lack equal opportunities to receive crucial information and guidance for Higher Education. In response to government cuts, we partnered with SE Midlands Careers Hub to develop a careers programme serving 35% of local schools. Male, GEM, and the most disadvantaged students face significant risks from lack of appropriate career information and guidance at school, indicating a need for targeted interventions at university. COVID-19 has exacerbated these issues, highlighting the importance of improving our information and guidance offering to our school partners.

Our applicant data suggests that there may be a difference in the way male and female students perceive the academic portfolio offer at UON, resulting in different application rates which varies across our faculties and subjects. To address misconceptions in the understanding of Higher Education our Widening Access Team collaborate with faculty colleagues, partner schools and our Aspire Higher Uni Connect partners, to reduce the differences in participation between the most and least represented groups, particularly working to improve perceptions of Higher Education.

Risks to equality of opportunity to students while on courses at university.

We aim to create a barrier-free academic support model for all, as students may sometimes not receive the personalised academic support, they need which will affect their success. Belonging is crucial for the success of our students and as such we will embed our PAT policy more consistently. Data has identified that GEM students and students with disabilities face more challenges and we aim to greenlight more male students to academic support sessions.

Our personal and academic support systems, including student support teams, Integrated Learner Support, and Personal Academic Tutors, are crucial for student success and raising the profile and accessibility of these systems across the institution is key.

Financial support is vital to support students continue with their studies, especially for low-income students, this is part of the support we offer and will enable us to reach a 90% continuation rate across all cohorts. Internal data highlights the need for better personal support for foundation year, male and some GEM students.

Poor mental health is increasingly affecting students in HE. Our Mental Health and Counselling Team saw a 127% rise in transition support requests in 2022/23. There are barriers to our GEM and male students accessing personal and academic support due to being unaware of support services and this is a priority for us to address. Over 50% of students have reported a mental health concern, with 44% saying it impacts their studies. We are very determined to address this issue to ensure equality of opportunity.

Our APP development revealed that siloed local databases hinder our ability to provide integrated student support and data analysis. This fragmentation affects policies like PAT and ILS, making it hard to offer consistent support. Students face cumbersome processes, especially those with disabilities. Staff need timely data to better support students, but disconnected systems slow decision-making and increase errors, impacting the student experience and support that can be offered.