Committee: Academic Standards and Quality Development
Report: Equality & Diversity Annual Report
From: Barbara Hughes and Louise Jones
Date: 2 June 2015
1. Executive Summary
This report provides an update on Equality and Diversity in the college from 2013/14 to date.
The purpose of the report is to inform the committee, and gain approval to the proposed
objectives for the next two years being recommended to the Corporation. The report, once
approved has to be published on the college’s external website to meet the college’s
legislative requirements.
The college is meeting its legislative requirements by setting and measuring objectives and
publishing employee equality information annually.
The college has made good progress in reducing achievement gaps between ethnic minority
groups and other students. The college has made satisfactory progress on the other
objectives set in 13/14.
This year the college has a link Governor who has contributed to planning and evaluating
equality and diversity. In addition the college holds a termly network meeting for managers
and staff from curriculum and support departments. The network examines current practice,
shares ideas and develops teaching materials for staff and students. Curriculum areas are
monitored on their promotion and management of equality and diversity through graded
observations, student feedback, termly review boards, self-assessment reports and quality
improvement plans. The promotion, management and evaluation of equality and diversity are
facilitated by the quality team.
2. Recommendations
The Committee recommend to the Corporation the approval of the annual equality and
diversity report and agrees proposed objectives for the next two years.
3. Business Risk
If the college fails to meet legislative and regulatory requirements it could impact negatively
on the student experience and the college’s reputation.
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4. Financial Risk
If the college fails to meet the general and specific equality duty required by law, it could
have a negative impact on the reputation of the college, performance results and financial
stability.
If you have any questions in advance of the meeting, please contact:
Barbara Hughes
Director of Quality & standards
07726693497
Barbara.hughes@bmetc.ac.uk
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Birmingham Metropolitan College Annual Equality and Diversity Report April 2015
Overview
During 2013/14 the responsibility for promotion and management of equality and diversity
has been college-wide, with the quality team facilitating a steering group of representative
staff and holding departments to account in terms of the impact on the student and staff
experience. The HR team have monitored staff recruitment, selection and progression and
maintained information on impact. This report examines the success of the objectives which
were set at the start of the year and reviews how the college meets its statutory and
regulatory equality duties.
Objectives
The equality and diversity objectives for 13/14 were as follows:
1. Ensure that systems and data are robustly monitored for Equality and Diversity issues
and continuous improvement takes place. This includes identifying gaps in achievement
through interrogating qualitative and quantitative data, and taking appropriate actions to
raise success rates above the College average of 86.7% (12/13 CBL performance),
whilst focussing particularly on further reducing achievement gaps between specific
ethnic groups. Specific targets to increase success rates for the following cohorts:
 Pakistani learners 16-18 from 83% to 87%
 Bangladeshi learners 19+ from 77% to 87%
 Chinese learners 16-18 from 79% to 87%
2. Continue to support teaching staff to promote equality and diversity to meet the needs of
all learners. Develop teaching, learning and assessment support materials and activities
that will continue to raise awareness of equality and diversity and to create a culture that
fosters respect and promotes social cohesion across the diverse student and staff
population.
3. Evaluate the impact of Equality and Diversity promotion, management and delivery
through the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, collected from students, staff
and stakeholders.
4. Ensure that College staff and Governors are trained in equality and diversity and are
aware of the College’s Equality and Diversity Policy and Action Plan. A minimum of 90%
of staff should complete/update their training this academic year.
Progress on Objectives
Objective 1
Systems and Data - Good progress has been made on this objective.
The college monitors four of its systems for equality and diversity issues; these include the
management information of performance (Pro Achieve and Pro Monitor), self-service system
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for staff information (Cintra) and the survey tool for student feedback (QDP). Observation
reports (observation database) monitor how equality and diversity are demonstrated in
teaching and learning and assessment.
Overall success rates for classroom based learning (CBL) have declined on last year to
82.7% which is just below national averages by 2%. The methodology for measuring success
in CBL changed this year to match the way apprentice and workplace learning success rates
are measured. The college’s objectives were based on old methodology and have been
realigned to make meaningful comparisons. The targets for reducing achievement gaps with
specific ethnic minority groups were to bring those for Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese
students to the college average success rates.
The success rate for Pakistani 16-18 students is 79.1%. Pakistani students have improved
performance over three years and reduced the achievement gap to match the college
average for 16-18 year olds (79%), which is also the average for white students aged 16-18
(79%).
The success rate for Bangladeshi 19+ students is 82.9%. Bangladeshi students have
improved significantly on the previous year and reduced the achievement gap to 2.7% when
compared with the college average for 19+ students (85.6%).
Chinese 16-18 student’s success rate is 84.6% which is an improvement on the previous
year by 8%. Their success rate is nearly 6% above the college average for 16-18 year olds
(79%).
Achievement gaps are also narrowing for black African, black Caribbean and Indian
students.
Students with learning difficulty, disability or health problems are achieving as well as or
better than those who have no learning difficulty or disability.
Success rates for 19+ learners with a learning difficulty or disability is 90.5% (6.2% above
national averages and 8.9% above those with no difficulty/disability).
The College quality improvement plan includes targets and objectives to continue to reduce
the achievement gaps between different groups of learners.
Objective 2
Equality and Diversity in Teaching and Learning - Good progress has been made on this
objective.
Feedback from the Teaching and Learning Review conducted in September 2014 included
the following comment: “Celebration of equality and diversity is clearly evident in the good
student behaviour and harmonious relationships”. Feedback from graded observations,
learning walks and termly review boards show that respect, tolerance and positive behaviour
are fostered through campus management and classroom management. The messages are
reinforced through printed and online teaching and information materials, for example, the
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student charter, induction handbooks and course handbooks. Explicit messages regarding
the zero tolerance of homophobic bullying have been introduced and will be expanded to
include transphobic bullying in 2015/16.
Teachers challenge stereotypes and use diverse and inclusive images in delivery. Examples
of this include visits by Paralympic athletes, both in classroom based delivery and staff
development, Arts projects that explore identity and identity issues, race and sexual
orientation, use of non-stereotypical role models e.g. black male ballet dancer working with
football students in fitness training, creation of music in relation to the Sophie Lancaster
story.
The equality and diversity thematic network meets once per term. Themes that have been
explored this year include mental health awareness, LGBT issues presented by Birmingham
Council’s LGBT advisor, Ellie Barnes and Unconscious Bias presented by Dr Christine Rose,
specialist equality and diversity consultant.
An equality and diversity calendar has been introduced that ensures coverage of a balanced
range of diverse topics. A cross college scheme of work for tutorials has been developed that
integrates these topics. The personal tutorial newsletter continues to support tutors with
weekly information about ‘what’s going on in the world this week’. Evaluation of these
strategies is underway.
Equality and diversity is embedded in the College’s vision and values. Signage throughout
the college has been refreshed and increased to raise the visibility of the College’s
commitment to equality and diversity.
Objective 3
Promotion of Equality and Diversity - Good progress has been made on this objective.
The college has promoted equality and diversity strongly this year, particularly through the
curriculum. Induction for full time students in September included an additional activity called
the Respect Café. Students and staff identified and highlighted the desired behaviour and
environment to create respect and inclusivity. The event proved popular with good feedback
and will become part of the mainstream induction in 2015/16. Curriculum areas continued to
address equality and diversity issues in their local quality improvement plans particularly with
regard to reducing achievement gaps between age, gender, ethnicity and disability.
Promotion of equality and diversity is good with examples of inclusivity and a culture of
respect demonstrated in teaching and learning and student support. Feedback mechanisms
for students include questions on equality and diversity. Student surveys in 13/14 identified:
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the majority of students are satisfied with their experience at BMet
the college does not act on student feedback enough
apprentices are the least satisfied demographic group
Black Caribbean and Black Other are the least prepared of the ethnic groups to take
the next steps after leaving college
students value the clarity on standards of behaviour and what is expected of them
adults are more satisfied than 16-18
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
students with a disability/learning difficulty are well supported.
Targets to improve response rates and satisfaction levels have been set for 2014/15. The
college will collect information from students on sexual orientation and faith as part of the
BIG Teaching and Learning Survey. Data is already collected on age, gender, learning
difficulty and disability and ethnicity.
During November 2014, the quality team and senior managers within the college met with Dr
Christine Rose to gain an independent expert view on equality and diversity within the
college. The recommendations made have been reviewed and work has commenced to
implement the suggestions. This includes reviewing the equality strategy to include
objectives that are driving forward the equality and diversity agenda more robustly and
streamlining the policy to enable a wider inclusion in college documents and more
widespread promotion of the policy, particularly with regard to workplace learning and
subcontracted provision. Dr Rose advised the college to be more proactive in its equality
work across curriculum areas and to increasingly record and promote the good work that is
already taking place. Equality impact assessments should be extended to more policy and
provision this year.
Curriculum areas attend termly review boards at which performance, delivery and
compliance are examined. During these boards staff are challenged on their promotion,
management and monitoring of equality and diversity with good practice shared across
curriculum areas.
Objective 4
Staff and Governor E&D Training - Satisfactory progress has been made on this objective.
The college has a range of online modules for staff training including equality and diversity.
Results for 2013/14 show:
Training
Disability Equality Training
Equality & Diversity Training
Equality & Diversity Managers
Started
1035
883
304
Completed/started
881(85%)
786 (89%)
261(86%)
These results fall short of the target of 90% however staff and students have benefited from
broader equality training about mental health awareness, well-being, dyslexia awareness,
behaviour management, differentiated learning and unconscious bias.
Governors have taken part in ‘keep in touch’ sessions which include discussion and analysis
of equality and diversity. Governors receive an annual report on equality and diversity and
escalate issues as appropriate with the senior leadership team.
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Employee Data
Employee data for equality and diversity analysis is compiled by the Human Resources (HR)
department twice a year. This information is used to assess whether the staff body is
reflective of the local community and the student population, and to monitor equality of
opportunity at recruitment, selection and progression. Staff appointments and progression
are made on merit but reviewed by the HR team to check a diverse range of promotion is
maintained. All staff are expected to adhere fully to the equality and diversity policy and
respond effectively to students regardless of age, disability, gender/gender reassignment,
race, religion, sexual orientation or postcode. Currently 64% of staff do not state their
sexuality, 18% do not state their ability/disability, 2% do not state their ethnicity, 46% do not
state their faith and 54% do not state their marital status.
Gender
This year’s analysis of staff data shows that of the 1178 staff (at November 2014) employed:
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60% of college staff are female. The proportion of female staff is highest amongst
support staff at 66.67%.
61.44% of managers are female
teaching staff are evenly split between male and female
the BMet gender profile appears typical of the FE sector. The LSIS (2013) analysis
shows that 63.5% of FE college staff are female; 62% of managers are female and
there is a 50:50 split amongst full-time teaching staff.
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Disabled Employees
Staff with (disclosed) disabilities represent 3.41% of the workforce. This compares with
3.7% across the general FE workforce (LSIS). According to the ONS Labour Force
Statistics (2013) 18.9% of the working age population have a disability. 19.68% of
college employees have either not supplied the College with this information or have
expressed the preference not to declare their disability status. This is something that the
college needs to address so that it can achieve a more accurate profile of disability and
make reasonable adjustments where required; this may also impact positively on
sickness absence rates.
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Age
The average age of a college employee is just over 44.61 years. It is slightly more for
managers but consistent between support and teaching staff. This is consistent with the
FE sector average contained in the most up to date workforce data published by LSIS in
June 2013 relating to the 2011/12 academic year.
39.44% of the College’s workforce is aged 50 years and over. Although this is
commensurate with the FE sector generally (37.6%), it is high compared to the age
profile of the general workforce where the national average rate of workers aged 50
years and over is 27% (ONS Labour Force Statistics 2013).
1.45% of staff (17 in total) are continuing to work for the College beyond the age of 65.
This has been given impetus by the scrapping of compulsory retirement age and the
gradual raising of state pension age. Across the FE sector 2.9% of all staff are over 65
(LSIS). Across the general workforce 3.1% are aged 65 and over (ONS Labour Force
Statistics 2013).
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Ethnicity
80.31% of staff are from a white ethnic group (White – British/Irish/Other). Black and minority
ethnic staff (BME) (which includes Asian, Black, Chinese, Other and Mixed) make up nearly
16.95 % of the overall workforce with the highest proportion (26.51%) among teaching staff.
These figures bear favorable comparison with the FE sector as a whole where 86% of staff
are from a white ethnic group and 8.3% are from a BME group. There are, of course, regional
variations and we would expect a higher proportion of BME staff in the West Midlands. The
LSIS research reports that 14.3% of staff in the West Midlands are BME. In Greater London it
is 38.7%.
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Part time Working
The proportion of staff working part-time is now over 26.92% of the workforce. 27.44% of the
lecturing staff and 33.95% within support areas. There are only a small number of managers
(2.61%) who work part-time. This compares to an overall figure of 22% of the workforce
working part-time in 2011.
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Length of Service
The average length of service for employees is 8.87 years. 84.24% of college staff have less
than 15 years’ service; 60.05% of staff have less than 10 years ‘service.
Our aim is to continue monitoring staff representation, and increase staff completion of selfserve equality data in order to review and reflect on recruitment for managers, non
managers,
promotion,
training
participation
and
to
plan
succession.
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Proposed Objectives for 2014/15 to 2016/17
The following proposed objectives are based on results from last year, feedback from
students, staff and the external consultant and themes from the strategic objectives of the
college.
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reduce achievement gaps between African, Bangladeshi, Chinese and Pakistani 16-18 years
olds to the national averages by December 2016
reduce achievement gaps between African, Arab, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, Chinese, Indian
and Pakistani adult students to the national averages by December 2016
increase staff completion of their personal equality data on the self-serve system by 2% for
ethnicity and 10% for other equality protected characteristics of sexuality, ability/disability,
marital status and faith by December 2015.
identify and publish E&D case studies each year from half of all curriculum departments
improve online training completion rates to 90% of staff by July 2016
establish and implement SMART challenging E&D objectives with HR for recruitment and
promotion by July 2016
establish a standing steering group led by a member of the Executive to lead the direction of
E&D in the college by September 2015
continue to carry out equality impact assessments to cover a third of all policies by July 2016
achieve a nationally recognised equality award by July 2017
review the policy and republish in September 2015
Barbara Hughes
Director Quality & Standards
April 2015