Imperial College London Widening Participation Strategic Assessment
SECTION 1: Widening participation strategy
Mission and culture
1.
The College’s widening participation strategy and admissions policies are framed by its
mission and strategic intent:
Mission:
Imperial College embodies and delivers world class scholarship, education and research
in science, engineering, medicine and business, with particular regard to their
application in industry, commerce and healthcare. We foster interdisciplinary working
internally and collaborate widely externally.
Strategic Intent:





To remain amongst the top tier of scientific, engineering and medical research and
teaching institutions in the world.
To harness the quality and breadth of our research capability, across multiple
disciplines, to address major challenges.
To continue to attract and develop the most able students and staff worldwide.
To develop our range of academic activities to meet the changing needs of society,
industry and healthcare.
To communicate widely the significance of science in general and the purpose and
ultimate benefits of our activities in particular.
2.
The College is an international university which provides rigorous and intensive degree
courses in science, engineering, medicine and business (single honours business
degrees are not offered at undergraduate level). The College’s undergraduate
programmes are designed to produce graduates for either fast-track graduate
employment or postgraduate study and are intended to educate the next generation of
academic, professional and business leaders. The student population is of high quality
and the average A-Level tariff score (based on the first three eligible A-Levels only) of
undergraduate entrants in 2007/08 was 355.1
3.
In accordance with its mission and educational objectives, the College aims to attract
and recruit those students with the highest academic ability and potential and who would
thus be most likely to benefit from its courses. The College’s subject mix necessitates
prior subject knowledge as an important pre-requisite to study and the majority of
programmes require A-Level (or equivalent) passes in physics or physical sciences and
in at least one mathematics subject. As a consequence, the College’s students are able
to cope with, and thrive on, the academic standards of their courses and the success of
these policies are reflected in the College’s high retention rates.
4.
The College’s student population is cosmopolitan and diverse; around 28% of the
College’s students are overseas fee paying and around 40% of undergraduates are
from outside the UK.
1
At A-Level where A=120, B=100, C=80, D=60, E=40.
1
Widening participation overview
5.
The College strives to ensure that its widening participation policies and practices
benefit the sector as a whole by encouraging entry to higher education, particularly in
STEM subjects. A range of measures are employed to encourage pupils from
disadvantaged backgrounds to aspire to higher education and the College’s activities
include the provision of practical help in the application process and support to school
teachers in science education. Emphasis is not necessarily placed on encouraging
pupils to apply to and study at the College. Rather, the primary objective is to take a
leading role in increasing awareness among young people of the importance and
excitement of higher education, and of science in particular, and to encourage and
assist them in identifying a suitable subject and place of study. The College’s Outreach
Office is responsible for delivering the College’s main portfolio of school liaison
initiatives and in its most recent audit of the College, the QAA identified the College’s
approach to outreach activity as an area of good practice.
6.
In recognition of fair access, the College aims to ensure that it is able to accurately and
fairly identify those applicants with the highest academic ability and potential irrespective
of their background. The College would not want financial considerations to deter
prospective applicants who meet its entrance requirements and thus offers a range of
financial support packages with this in mind. The Pro-Rector (Education) maintains
strategic oversight of admissions, learning, teaching and assessment processes and
pastoral and welfare services in support of the full diversity of the student body with a
view to ensuring an appropriate level of coordination.
7.
Widening participation is implicit in many of the College’s teaching and community
engagement programmes. For example, a number of mechanisms are in place to
support students once at the College, including an online mathematics assistance tool
(METRIC). As such, the College’s Widening Participation Strategy should be viewed
along side the College’s Access Agreement and outreach booklet, ‘Outreach: Raising
Aspirations in Science and Higher Education’, which are appended to this document.
Further information about the College’s broader activities in terms of teaching, learning
and welfare support can be found at http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/.
Widening participation strategic objectives
8.
Table 1 overleaf outlines the College’s eight strategic objectives in support of widening
participation. The College’s activities in pursuit of these objectives and summarised
above can be categorised into five main components. These are included in the table
and aligned to the appropriate strategic objective(s).
2
Table 1: The College’s strategic objectives for widening participation
Component activity
Raising
aspirations
Support for
science
teaching in
schools
Strategic objective
1
To pursue activities which raise the aspirations of school children from
primary education through to A-level and thereby encourage them to apply
to the right university for them irrespective of their background.
√
√
2
To facilitate and promote understanding and interest in science, engineering
and medicine amongst school children of all ages.
√
√
3
To facilitate from an early age an understanding and interest in the sciences
and an awareness of the requirements for study, thus enabling pupils to
take informed decisions about their educational path.
√
√
4
To enhance the reputation and perception of Imperial College amongst
capable young people from a wide range of backgrounds so that the most
able candidates consider it as their preferred choice.
√
√
5
To help to address the problems caused by a shortage of qualified science
teachers in state schools.
6
To ensure that the College selects candidates with the highest academic
ability, potential and motivation and who would most likely benefit from its
courses.
7
To retain and support the College’s students from underrepresented groups
and enable them to succeed.
8
To continue to develop ways in which the College supports applicants and
students with disabilities.
Selection
and fair
access
Financial
support
√
Retention
and ensuring
the student
experience
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
3
SECTION 2: Widening participation policy and practice
Widening participation commitments
Raising aspirations
9.
The Independent Schools Council has shown that the proportion of A-Level pupils
awarded an A grade is significantly higher in private schools than in state schools (51%
of A-Levels taken in independent schools were awarded an A grade in 2008 compared
to 22.5% in other schools) and that a greater proportion of students in the independent
school sector study science subjects at A-Level (30.1% of A-Level pupils in independent
schools studied mathematics in 2006 compared with 17.2% in comprehensive state
schools).2 In addition, it has been demonstrated that socio-economic background has a
significant bearing on school level attainment, with the 20% of pupils who live in the
most deprived wards in England making up only 11% of those who attain five or more
GCSEs.3 The College therefore undertakes a wide range of initiatives to ensure that
more school pupils are given the opportunity to fulfil their potential and are encouraged
to aspire to higher education. Some examples of these are provided below.
10. The Widening Participation School Visits Programme reaches a wide network of schools
and colleges in London and the South East and provides a fully comprehensive service
covering all aspects of higher education awareness and application. The Programme is
designed to help school children make well-informed choices and effective applications
across the HE sector, ensure that pupils are encouraged to fulfil their potential and to
support parents and teachers in the assistance they provide. The Programme is tailored
to the needs and requirements of the schools concerned, the vast majority of which are
in the state sector and are selected on the basis that their pupil intake includes those
from disadvantaged backgrounds. In many cases, the schools involved are not well
resourced and have limited or negligible internal careers or HE advice and guidance.
11. The College delivers a broad range of science activities and summer schools, which
largely benefit local and disadvantaged school pupils. A wide range of programmes,
including general and discipline-specific residential and non-residential courses, are
offered for all year groups from 6 to 12. Other activities include open days,
demonstration lectures and those directed at groups particularly underrepresented in
science. Departmental initiatives are also undertaken. For example, the Mathematics
Department runs Math Matters, where its third year students give presentations to
school children to demonstrate how mathematics can be applied to real life situations.
12. The College has successfully attracted external investment to support its school liaison
activities, including from Aimhigher (which directs monies at projects directed to the
benefit of able pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds), London Gifted and Talented
and the City and Guilds Student Union. In recent years, this work has been supported
and expanded through partnership with Exscitec, an organisation which develops
programmes of activity for the promotion of STEM education and provides project
management support. Further details on the full range of the College’s activities in this
regard are included in the booklet, ‘Outreach: Raising Aspirations in Science and Higher
Education’, which is appended to this document.
2Independent
3
Schools Council (http://www.isc.co.uk/).
National Audit Office, Widening participation in higher education (June 2008).
4
13. Notable achievements to date include:
 In the current academic year, around 15,000 pupils and parents and 110 schools are
benefiting from the Widening Participation School Visits Programme;
 Around 6,000 students are involved in the College’s science activities and summer
schools each year.
Support for science teaching in schools
14. The College is concerned by the decline in the number of pupils who choose to pursue
science at A-Level and the shortfall in new teachers in these important science subjects.
Despite some more recent progress, the total number of entrants to A-Level Chemistry,
Physics and Mathematics in 2007 was lower than the most recent (1998) peak (-5%;
-19% and -6% respectively), which should be judged within the context that the total
number of A-Level entrants increased over the same period (+6%).4 In addition, a recent
report has demonstrated that 41% of up-to-16 schools and 11% of up-to-18 schools in
England have no specialist physics teachers. This problem is most acute in London
(50% of all state schools in Inner London have no specialist physics teachers) and
exacerbated by the fact that in 2005-06 around 26% more physics teachers left the
profession than entered it.5
15. The College delivers a variety of schemes to support science teaching in schools and
plans to sustain and build on them where appropriate. For example, INSPIRE
(Innovative Scheme for Post-doctorates in Research and Education) was launched by
the Prime Minister in 2002 with funding from GlaxoSmithKline 6 to address recognised
concerns in the decline in the number of qualified science teachers and the associated
drop in the number of pupils studying STEM subjects. The scheme enables the
College’s postgraduate students and post-doctoral staff to spend time in partner
secondary schools teaching and study towards a PGCE and thereby produces a cohort
of highly skilled science teachers with experience of research. Each participant is linked
to a College academic, which enables them to maintain their research links and use
laboratory facilities. The provision offered by those involved includes master classes,
science clubs, university-level training, careers advice, science conferences and visits
by school children to university research laboratories. The scheme is being upheld as an
example of good practice and rolled out more widely across the sector.
16. The College delivers a variety of other initiatives in which its students provide mentoring
support for schools which, in the main, have large proportions of pupils from
economically disadvantaged backgrounds. These include the Student Associates
Scheme, the Pimlico Connection and the eMentoring Scheme. The College also hosts
the London Region for Researchers in Residence. Funded by Research Councils UK
and the Wellcome Trust, this national scheme is open to all postgraduate or postdoctoral researchers funded by either of these bodies and enables them to give 14-24
hours of their time in secondary schools.
4
HEFCE, Strategically importance and vulnerable subjects: Final report of the 2008 advisory group (October
2008/38).
5 A report prepared for Research Councils UK by a panel chaired by Professor Bill Wakeham, Review of UK
Physics, (October 2008).
6 INSPIRE is now funded by the Foyle Foundation, the TDA, participating schools, the Royal Commission for the
Exhibition of 1851 and the Ogden Trust.
5
17. Notable achievements to date include:
 10 schools in London and the South East are currently involved in INSPIRE and half
of those who have completed a PGCE through this means have gone on to become
teaching professionals;
 Approximately 75,000 school children benefit from the College’s tutoring and
mentoring programmes each year;
 Through the Student Associates Scheme, 330 Ambassadors provide in excess of
22,000 contact days per annum in London and South East schools.
Selection and fair access
18. The College meets almost all adjusted sector level benchmarks on widening
participation (including the participation of students in receipt of Disabled Students’
Allowance) and all those related to non-continuation. The College is lower than the
adjusted sector benchmark for the percentage of undergraduate student entrants from
state schools or colleges and, to an extent, this reflects differential levels of achievement
in science in the independent and state school sectors.7 Whilst the gap in achievement
between private and state schools has continued to widen, the College has steadily
increased its intake of students from state schools (58.7% of young undergraduate
entrants to the College with known schooling data came from state schools or colleges
in 2004-05 compared to 65.1% in 2007-08). However, in pursuit of its mission, the
College will only select individuals who apply to its courses and meet the required entry
standards. The College therefore considers that equality of opportunity in school is a
precursor to fair access to higher education, hence its broad portfolio of school liaison
activities.
19. Most of the College’s courses are heavily oversubscribed, which means that many good
applicants are not offered a place.8 However, A-Level grade drift has made it
increasingly difficult for the College to distinguish between candidates by virtue of their
A-Levels alone. For example, the Joint Council for Qualifications has shown that the
percentage of A grades awarded at A-Level had increased from 12% in 1990 to 25.9%
in 2008. This is exacerbated by the fact that the proportion of candidates gaining an A
grade was particularly high in subjects frequently required for entry to the College’s
programmes, including Mathematics (44%), Further Mathematics (57.5%), Physics
(31.8%) and Chemistry (33.7%).9 The College is also concerned that A-Levels are not a
good measure of critical thinking skills and therefore can not be used to reliably predict
which students will excel at higher level study without reference to other indicators.
20. In light of this, the College is investigating various methods to support its student
selection processes with a view to developing a suite of procedures that judge
capabilities and potential in as fair a manner as possible. The College is sensitive to
how an individual’s background and previous experiences might unduly impact
performance during the selection process and such issues are informing its
deliberations. For example, the College is considering and piloting ways to interview
candidates in groups and to organise team work activities alongside one-on-one
interviews.
21. The Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT) was introduced for entry onto the College’s
MBBS programme in 2008 and will be a requirement for admission to the BSc in
Biomedical Science and the BSc in Pharmacology and Translational Medical Science
7
See references in paragraphs 9 above.
The College receives around 6.5 applications for every available undergraduate place.
9
Joint Council for Qualifications (http://www.jcq.org.uk/homepage.cfm)
8
6
from 2009 onwards. A possible College-wide entrance exam is also under consideration
and is being piloted with existing students who are representative of the College’s
diverse student profile and also with school children. A key consideration of the pilot is
to ensure that performance cannot be improved through coaching and that the exam is
unbiased towards any nationality, race, culture, gender, background or disability.
22. The Faculty of Medicine is conscious of the need to widen the cohort of students
entering the medical profession and the College is investigating the viability and
suitability of widening participation admissions projects for the Faculty and the College
more generally. As part of this, it will look at initiatives which have the potential to enable
the identification of applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds and the monitoring of
selection outcomes where appropriate.
23. The College expects that the introduction of any new selection procedures will require
the provision of additional training activities for admissions tutors and these will be
developed and provided as appropriate.
24. Notable achievements to date include:
 A possible College-wide entrance exam has been piloted with current undergraduate
students in the non-medical faculties and also with school children. The test will be
repeated in October 2009 with a larger cohort of new first year students;
 A Widening Participation Steering Committee has been established and part of its
remit includes the investigation of potential widening participation admissions
projects.
Financial Support
25. The College recognises the important role that financial support arrangements play in
both ensuring that capable prospective students from low-income families are not
deterred from applying to the College and in aiding their continued retention. In line with
its Access Agreement, the College’s bursary scheme ensures that students in the lowest
income group receive a bursary of at least £3,000. In addition and in line with the
College’s mission, such students receive a further £300 if they attain three A grades at
A-Level (or equivalent). The College has consistently more than met the financial
commitments contained within its Access Agreement and in 2007-08, the College spent
31.9% of its additional fee income on student bursaries.
26. The College has a range of mechanisms in place to ensure that all new students are
aware of the financial support available to them and a significantly higher proportion of
eligible College students take up their bursaries than across the sector more generally.
Advice is also provided to applicants and students on Student Loans, the Access to
Learning Fund and various other funding opportunities.
27. The College offers a range of additional competitive scholarships to both undergraduate
and postgraduate students. As a reflection of the College’s mission, criteria are based
on academic ability; however, a significant proportion are also limited to those students
who also require financial assistance. For example, the College’s Student Opportunities
Fund Scholarship, supported by external donations, offers awards to exceptional
students who come from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
7
28. Notable achievements to date include:
 In 2007-08, 31.9% of the College’s additional fee income was spent on bursaries for
students from low income families and around 85% of this funding was provided to
students in the lowest income group;
 A very high bursary take up rate, which, in 2007-08, was almost 100% of all students
eligible for a bursary;
 Over £1,000,000 in donations has been collected to support Student Opportunities
Fund Scholarships since it was established in 2003-04.
Retention and the student experience
29. The College has a high retention rate and over 94% of its students remain on their
courses at the College following their year of entry.10 This is, in part, a reflection of the
College’s high entrance requirements and rigorous selection processes, which are
designed to ensure that those applicants most likely to succeed and who have the most
potential are selected. This means that students from underrepresented groups are
admitted to College programmes with levels of prior attainment comparable to other
students. Such students therefore rarely require substantial additional academic support
above the provision offered to all; however, a range of student support services are
provided with a view to complementing this policy.
30. The maintenance and enhancement of teaching quality and the student experience is a
core part of the College’s mission and necessary to ensure the continuance of its ability
to attract, retain and educate high calibre students. Mechanisms employed to support
the full diversity of the student population include student feedback, peer observation,
programme review and additional academic support for students who require the further
development of their basic academic literacy, numeracy and study skills.
Encouragement is also given to the development of broader qualities needed for
employment and a personal development plan has recently been developed to support
and enable students to reflect on their professional development. A range of pastoral
and welfare support services are also provided, including by personal tutors, College
and departmental tutors, deans, counsellors, residential wardens and disability advisors.
In the case of disabilities, a specific data management system is in the process of being
developed with a view to better managing the cases of individual disabled students and
broadening the College’s understanding of its disabled student population and their
experiences.
31. In recognition of the diversity of the College’s student body, a series of staff
development activities linked to equality and diversity are provided to enable staff to
respond effectively to students with disabilities and those from diverse cultures and
backgrounds. For example, all probationary lecturers newly joining the College are
required to undertake a Certificate in Advanced Study in Learning and Teaching
(CASLAT) and an MEd in University Learning and Teaching has been offered to staff
free of charge since July 2008.
32. Notable achievements to date include:
 207 members of staff have hitherto completed the CALSAT programme and a further
50 staff are enrolled in the current group;
 200 new bespoke interactive exercises and explorations have been added to
METRIC (the College’s mathematics support software), ensuring complete coverage
of First Year mathematical requirements in the Faculty of Engineering and the
10
HESA performance indicators.
8
Department of Physics. METRIC is now being extended to further address the needs
of life sciences and medical students;
 The College has recently enhanced its systems of pastoral care, including support
arrangements for disabled students, by directing additional resource to ensure better
coverage of its hospital campus and residential areas.
Targets and milestones
33. Table 2 below demonstrates the milestones by which the College will measure the
success of its widening participation activities and shows how they align to the eight
strategic objectives. They reflect the College’s mission and strategic intent and accord to
the milestones included in its Access Agreement where appropriate.
Table 2: The College’s targets and milestones for widening participation
Strategic objective
Specific aim
To pursue activities which raise the
aspirations of school children from
primary education through to A-level and
thereby encourage them to apply to the
right university for them irrespective of
their background.
The College will expand the Widening Participation
School Visits Programme with the aim of involving
more school pupils per annum. 15,000 school children
and parents and 110 schools currently benefit from the
Programme each year and the aim is to reach around
16,000 school children and parents and 120 schools
per annum by the end of the period.
In 2009-10, the College will further develop the
programme of science activities and summer schools
with the aim of attracting c.10% more beneficiaries
from the current base of 6,000 per annum. The aim is
therefore to involve 6,600 school children.
In 2010-11, the College will further develop the
programme of science activities and summer schools
with the aim of attracting c.10% more beneficiaries
than in the previous year. The aim is therefore to
involve 7,250 school children.
In 2011-12, the College will further develop the
programme of science activities and summer schools
with the aim of attracting c.10% more beneficiaries
than in the previous year. The aim is therefore to
involve 8,000 school children
The College will commence the development of an
outreach database to record and monitor widening
participation activities.
The College will employ a consultant to analyse
existing data and to finalise the outreach database.
The College will fully implement the outreach database
and analyse emerging trends and feedback with a view
to informing the further development of the College’s
school outreach and liaison activities.
To facilitate and promote understanding
and interest in science, engineering and
medicine amongst school children of all
ages.
To facilitate from an early age an
understanding and interest in the
sciences and an awareness of the
requirements for study, thus enabling
pupils to take informed decisions about
their educational path.
To enhance the reputation and
perception of Imperial College amongst
capable young people from a wide
range of backgrounds so that the most
able candidates consider it as their
preferred choice.
To help to address the problems caused
by a shortage of qualified science
teachers in state schools.
Target
completion
date
July 2012
December
2010
December
2011
December
2012
July 2010
July 2011
July 2012
9
Strategic objective
Specific aim
To ensure that the College selects
candidates with the highest academic
ability, potential and motivation and who
would most likely benefit from its
courses.
The College will further investigate methods to support
student selection processes by, for example,
considering ways to fairly, consistently and
transparently judge applicants’ critical thinking skills
and by piloting a possible College entrance exam. This
will be the second such pilot and will be conducted with
a view to ensuring that performance cannot be
improved through coaching and that the exam is
unbiased towards any nationality, race, culture,
gender, background or disability.
The College will analyse the findings of these activities
with a view to identifying those methods which most
effectively enable the selection of applicants with the
highest academic ability and potential irrespective of
their background.
The College will implement new student selection
processes and monitor the potential and ongoing
impact of any new initiatives.
The College will update its admissions procedures and
provide additional training activities for admissions
tutors as appropriate.
The College will ensure the continuance of current
levels of retention (currently, over 94% of students
remain on their courses at the College following their
year of entry).
The College will invest more resource in student
welfare services, including the provision of hall
wardens, counsellors, disabilities support and College
tutors.
The College will enhance the personal tutor scheme.
The College will implement additional mechanisms in
support of the development of personal and
professional skills by, for example, embedding science
communication and ethics training in all undergraduate
courses.
The College will review its bursary and other financial
student support arrangements with a view to ensuring
their continued appropriateness.
The College will continue to raise external donations to
fund scholarships in support of students from
disadvantaged backgrounds or who are
underrepresented in science.
To retain and support the College’s
students from underrepresented groups
and enable them to succeed.
To continue to develop ways in which
the College supports applicants and
students with disabilities.
Target
completion
date
July 2010
July 2011
July 2012
July 2012
Ongoing
July 2010
July 2011
July 2011
Ongoing
Ongoing
34. The College’s Widening Participation Steering Committee is responsible for developing
the Widening Participation Strategic Assessment, monitoring and measuring the
success of related activities and ensuring wider dissemination. A database of the
College’s outreach activities is to be developed with a view to enhancing the
Committee’s monitoring function and this activity is reflected in the milestones above.
The Committee reports to the Pro-Rector (Education) and both the Access Agreement
and the Widening Participation Strategic Assessment are subject to Management Board
approval.
10
Investment in widening participation
35. Sources of funding for widening participation activities include the HEFCE WP allocation
and other special income streams, additional fee income, external partners (including,
inter alia, Aimhigher, the TDA, Research Councils UK, the Wellcome Trust London
Gifted and Talented, the City and Guilds Student Union, the Foyle Foundation, the
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and the Ogden Trust), philanthropic
donations and the College’s own reserves. As demonstrated above, much of the
College’s widening participation activities are embedded within broader admissions,
learning and teaching, student support and other related activities. It is therefore not
always possible to disaggregate expenditure on widening participation specifically.
36. An indication of College-level investment in widening participation for academic year
2008-09 (including funding collected from external donors) is given below. A number of
widening participation activities are organised locally by academic departments (e.g. the
Maths Matters programme discussed above) and these have not been included in the
figures. It should also be noted that judgements have been made in the case of activities
with multiple aims and that these data do not reflect the full resource devoted to
ensuring the student experience. In addition, only the scholarships in support of
undergraduate students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds or groups who are
underrepresented in science are included in the total:
Raising aspirations and supporting science in schools:
Financial assistance for students from disadvantaged backgrounds:
Retention and ensuring the student experience:
£1,173,200
£3,249,500
£1,710,600
TOTAL £6,133,300
Imperial College London
May 2009
11