Report Title: Improving accessibility for people from Black & Minority Ethnic Communities and Refugees and Asylum Seekers onto Aimhigher programmes across the South East Region

Authors: Shanti Waas – Independent Consultant and Dr David Garbin –

University of Surrey

Report To: Regional Director Aimhigher South East

Date: May 2005

Executive summary
This report provides an important review and analysis of the Aimhigher programmes in the South East Region aimed at improving the participation of young women from Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds, young men of African and Caribbean origin and Refugees and Asylum Seekers in higher education.
The report notes the range of aspiration raising programmes currently taking place, including those planned for the future in the South East Region. The report also identifies a number of good practice examples in both local and national settings.
In carrying out the analysis the authors have highlighted the areas for improvement which they identified through a detailed consideration of some issues applicable to the respective BME and Refugee and Asylum Seeker target groups.
More importantly, the report offers the South East Region programme managers a range of tools under the heading of key issues as well as practical guidance for improving the participation of the current target groups in the aspiration raising programmes. In this connection the report points to the significance of the current legislation on race, gender and disability and in particular, the importance of accessing the equality specialists in the educational institutions and local authorities, other local and national networks, consulting with the target groups and involving them in the development of programmes and using positive action strategies.
The report acknowledges the wide range of activities within the Region, most of which are both innovative and well constructed and concludes by making a series of recommendations at both Regional and Sub-Regional levels.

1. Introduction and Terms of Reference

Terms of reference

  1. Shanti Waas, an independent consultant and Dr David Garbin (University of Surrey) were engaged to assist the Aimhigher Regional Director, Area managers and fieldworkers to enhance current Aimhigher Strategies and Action Plans to improve the participation of people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities and Refugees and Asylum Seekers on Aimhigher raising aspiration programmes. And specifically, to work with Aimhigher managers, fieldworkers and other consultants to:
  • Review programmes within the Aimhigher South East Region to identify gaps, key principles and good practice in accessing and supporting women participants of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin, young men of African/ Caribbean origin and Refugees and Asylum Seekers;
  • Present an update on current activities in respect of the above target groups within the South East Region and to facilitate a workshop at the SE Regional Conference held on the 26th January 2005, and
  • Present a report which included policy and operational principles and recommendations for improvements for the Aimhigher South East and where appropriate, specific areas within the South East.

Methodology

The information for this report was gathered from a number of sources which included:

  • A scoping exercise to identify the location of BME target communities in the South East region and to ascertain the type of activities carried out across the Region;
  • Interviews with Aimhigher directors, managers and fieldworkers, and
  • Researching internet resources

1.1 The Context

The idea of ‘widening participation’ has been around for over fifteen years. It is now common to find this concept embedded within the mission statements of most, if not all, further and higher educational establishments across England and Wales. Widening participation is based on the principle of promoting learning, research and training through partnerships between members of staff, students, employers and the community. And by working together to improve quality of service, responding to the diversity of needs and equipping individuals with the necessary skills and knowledge for life-long learning to enable them to contribute effectively to society and the economy.

In essence, the widening participation strategy is about addressing the particular issues associated with broadening the profile of recruitment from those areas and social/ethnic groups that were significantly under-represented in higher education. However, despite the best efforts of many widening participation programmes, the pattern of engagement in higher education has been one of under-performance in respect of the groups the strategy was aiming at.

The Aimhigher-Raising Aspiration Programme was conceived and developed to support the widening participation strategy in achieving its objectives.

This report seeks to provide an important review and analysis of the Aimhigher programmes within the South East region aimed at increasing the participation of target groups, that is young women from Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities, young men of African/Caribbean origin and Asylum-Seekers and Refugees into higher education. And most importantly, to identify any gaps in provision, including those issues in the opinion of the authors, have conspired to hinder the anticipated participation of the target groups in the Aimhigher initiatives within the region and recommendations to improve the participation of these groups in the various raising aspiration programmes.

Additionally, the consultants have also been made aware of certain concerns programme partners have in respect of the Asylum-Seeker target group participating in the Aimhigher programmes. These concerns will be considered in Section B of this report.

1.2 Report format

For ease of reference this report is presented as follows:

Section A.

1)BME target groups and their location in the South East Region

2)Summary of current Aimhigher activities in the South East Region

3)Case studies highlighting examples of good practice in the South East Region and nationally

Section B. Key issues in the development of raising aspiration Programmes/

Projects

Section C. Recommendations

Appendix 1 Questionnaire used for the scoping research

Appendix 2 Feedback from the 26/01/2005 workshop (First Annual Regional

Conference, Institute of Education, LondonUniversity)

Appendix 3 List of useful contacts and addresses

Appendix 4 Names of Aimhigher programme managers and fieldworkers

interviewed

2.Section A

2.1BME target groups and their location in the South East Region

Evidence shows that despite the fact that BME groups are over-represented in higher education - accounting for 13% of undergraduate students (the proportion of BME groups in the UK population is 7.9%) - a large number of male African/Caribbean and females of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin are not in education, training and employment.

Therefore, there is a need to carefully make distinctions between ethnic categories when defining target groups. For instance, the use of a broad category ‘Asian’ (or ‘Asian British’) may be misleading given the socio-economic and higher education participation rate differences between Indians, on the one hand, and the most disadvantaged groups of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, on the other hand. Gender should also be taken into account when defining target groups, for instance evidence shows that African Caribbean females are more successful in education on average than their male counterparts.

Based on data collected from the 2001 census (at ward level), a mapping of BME target groups in the 6 Aimhigher sub-regions of the South East has been undertaken. These BME groups are mainly concentrated in urban areas, as shown below.

Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire (MKOB)

  • In Milton Keynes, there are several wards which contain a proportion of BME residents above national average. For instance, in Bletchley and Fenny Stratford ward, the proportion of Asian & Asian British is 5.8% with the Bangladeshi population representing 4.1% of the population of the ward. In CampbellPark ward, Asian & Asian British residents make up 6.1% of the population (Indians representing 3.4% of the ward’s population) and the category Black or Black British accounts for 6.4% of the population (3.7% of Black Africans in the ward).
  • In Oxfordshire, BME target groups are mainly found in Oxford. In Cowley, 11.4% of the residents belong to the category Asian & Asian British (2.3% are Indians, 6.9% Pakistanis and 1.7% Bangladeshis) and there is also a proportion of 4.4% of Black or Black British. In Iffley Fields, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 5.6%, in St Clement's,it is 4.4% and in St Mary's, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 4.7%.
  • In Buckinghamshire there are some concentrations of BME target groups in:

Aylesbury Vale: for instance in Aylesbury Central, the proportion of Pakistani residents is important (13.1%). In Coldharbour, Asian & Asian British residents account for 6.4% of the population - Pakistani residents representing 5.2% of the population. In Elmhurst and Watermead, there is also a high proportion of Pakistani residents (11.5%). We could also mention the wards of Gatehouse (6.8% of Pakistani residents), Quarrendon (6.5%) and Southcourt (7.2%).

Chiltern: here the proportion of Pakistani residents is higher than national average in some wards. In Newtown, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 11%, in Vale and Lowndes, this proportion of Pakistani residents is 8.6% while in Vale it is 7.5%.

In Wycombe LA: again there are some wards which contain significant Pakistani populations, and also African Caribbean residents. In Oakridge and Castlefield, the proportion of Pakistani residents is very high (38.8%) and the proportion of African Caribbean residents is 5.3%. In Bowerdean, the proportion of Pakistani residents is also very high (25.6%) and the proportion of African Caribbean residents is 5.1%. In Sands, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 11.8%, in Terriers and Amersham Hill it is 7.7% and in Disraeli 13.5 % (where there is also a 5.2% proportion of African Caribbean residents).

Berkshire

In Berkshire, BME target groups for Aimhigher are mainly to be found in Reading and Slough, but also to some extent in Windsor, Maidenhead and Wokingham.

In Reading, there are several wards which contain a significant Pakistani population: Abbey (8.8%), Park (8.6%) Katesgrove (5%) or Redlands (4.2%). Some pockets of African Caribbean populations are to be found in Battle, Park, Redlands and also in Abbey.

In Slough, the proportion of Asian & Asian British is very high, at 27.9% (14% of Indians and 12.1% of Pakistanis). The proportion of Black or Black British residents is 5.1%.

In Baylis and Stoke, more than half of the population is Asian (53.4%). The proportion of Pakistani residents is 31.4%, the proportion of Indian residents is 18.8% - the proportion of Black or Black British is 5.5%. In Central, more than half of the population is also Asian (52.8%). The proportion of Pakistani residents is 29%; the proportion of Indian residents is 21.2%. In Chalvey, the proportion of Pakistani residents is very high (25.7%). The proportion of Indian residents is 14.7% and the proportion of Black or Black British is 7.7%. In Cippenham Meadows, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 8.6%, the proportion of Indian residents is 15.1% and the proportion of Black or Black British is 5.2%. In Farnham, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 14.2%, the proportion of Indian residents is 22.2% and the proportion of Black or Black British is 7.3%. In Upton, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 7%, the proportion of Indian residents is 22% and the proportion of Black or Black British is 4.1%. Finally, In Wexham Lea, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 17.9%, the proportion of Indian residents is 14.5% and the proportion of Black or Black British is 5%.

In the Windsor and Maidenhead’s ward of Maidenhead Riverside, the proportion of Indian residents is 4.1% and the proportion of Pakistani residents is also higher than regional and national average, at 7.6%.

In the Wokingham’s ward of Bulmershe and Whitegates, the proportion of Indian residents is 5.2% and the proportion of Pakistani residents is 6.6%.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight

In this Aimhigher sub-region, only Southampton and Portsmouth contain some significant BME presence (target-groups).

In the Southampton ward of Bevois, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 7.1% and the proportion of Bangladeshi residents is 2.6%. In Bargate, the proportion of Bangladeshi residents is 1.6% (above national average).

In Portsmouth, there are several wards containing Bangladeshi residents (with a proportion higher than national average), in Central Southsea (2.6%), Charles Dickens (2.9%) or St Jude (2.1%). In St Thomas, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 4.6%.

Surrey

In Surrey, only Woking contains some significant pockets of BME target groups for Aimhigher, mainly Pakistani residents. Indeed, in the ward of Maybury and Sheerwater, this proportion of Pakistani residents is very important, at 26.8%; and in Goldsworth East, the proportion of Pakistani residents is 5.6%.

Kent and Medway

Apart from Gravesham, where there are several wards with significant Indian populations (Northfleet North and South, Pelham,Riverside), Kent does not contain high concentrations of BME groups.

In Medway, there are several wards with Bangladeshi residents, mainly Chatham Central (1.02%) and Rochester East (1.29%).

Sussex

In East Sussex and in Brighton and Hove, the BME target population is very low. In West Sussex only few areas have a significant concentration of BME residents, mainly in Crawley.

In the Crawley’s ward of Broadfield North, the proportion of Pakistani residents 7.08% (with also 6.48% of Indian residents). In Langley Green, Pakistanis make up 9.14% of the population of the ward (12.65% of Indian residents).

2.2 Summary of current and planned Aimhigher activities in the South East Region

In order to review and assess the current and planned Aimhigher activities related to BME and Refugees and Asylum Seekers communities we sent a questionnaire to all the 6 sub-regions. This questionnaire can be found as an appendix at the end of this report. In addition, interviews were carried out with key persons involved with Aimhigher across the South East region.

- Summer schools

They are organised in all of the 6 sub-regions. However no specific BME target groups have been included as such in summer school initiatives. The criteria for inclusion are: ‘low participation areas’ or ‘under-represented groups’ or ‘Education Action Zones (EAZ)’, which remain too vague for the purpose of attracting the current target groups.

- Mentoring

Mentoring is a crucial aspect of widening participation programmes aimed at BME young people and students. In the South East region several mentoring programmes have been, are or will be undertaken. Many are targeted specifically at Bangladeshi/Pakistani young women and African Caribbean young men, for instance in Hampshire (lead institution SouthamptonCityCollege, mentoring from Aimhigher fieldworkers) in a programme due to start in July 2005 and involving several local schools. Another example of mentoring initiative can be found in Buckinghamshire (MKOB sub-region) with the extension of an existing Afro-Caribbean mentoring scheme (started in February 2005) and involving the School Improvement Service,

Youth and Community Service, Bucks County Council and Local Learning Partnership (20-30 students involved, with clear objectives set for progression and achievement).

- Careers & application support

Some initiatives related to careers and application support exist or are planned in the South East region and the target groups are male African-Caribbeans, female Bangladeshis/Pakistanis, for instance in Hampshire (lead institution: Southampton City College) where careers interview for BME participants and support group meetings (facilitated by worker) will be organised (July 2005).

- Open days, visits to higher education institutions, residential experience in higher education institutions

There are several initiatives such as open days, visits or residential experience in higher education institutions in place or planned in the South East region. However it appears that in some sub-regions no specific BME target groups have been included. The criteria for inclusion are instead: ‘low participation areas’ or ‘under-represented groups’ which remain again too vague for the purpose of attracting the current target groups and not really effective when considering the needs of BME young people.

- Masterclasses

A small number of masterclasses have been organised or are planned in the South East region but the targeting criteria tend to be ‘low participation areas’ ‘EAZ schools’, instead of well-defined BME groups.

- Addressing the needs of refugees and asylum seekers

Very few initiatives are specifically addressing the needs of refugees and asylum seekers in the South East region. However, it is worth mentioning here REMAS HE-(Refugee Education Mentoring and support into HE) which is a joint service delivered by University of Brighton and University of Sussex, in liaison with local refugee groups to support individuals into higher education.

- Developing & strengthening links with BME communities

Developing or strengthening links with BME community groups is an essential component of widening participation strategies in order to understand the particular needs and other issues of BME young people. BME community groups can also be used as a channel for recruiting participants in the programmes.

In the South East region this aspect of widening participation has been included in several plans, for instance in Woking (Surrey), Southampton (Hampshire), Brighton (Sussex) or Medway (Kent and Medway). The community groups or associations involved are:

BME Youth Groups (such as Bangladeshi Youth Group or African-Caribbean Youth Forum)

BME Community Groups (African-Caribbean Centre, Asian Cultural Centre)

Religious institutions and centres (local mosques, African-Caribbean churches, temples/gurdwaras)

- Linkswith local authorities and other agencies

Linking with a wide range of agencies with the same target groups is also of strategic importance. Evidence from the scoping exercise shows that few links have already been established or are planned with several agencies (such as Connexions, Community Learning Champions, Minority and Ethnic Traveller Achievement Service).

- Workshops

Workshops in BME community venues, schools or colleges were included in several plans but not in all of them.

- Website or information materials

They were included in several plans but not in all of them, and usually with a lack of effective targeting.

- Staff development

Staff development is essential and has been undertaken - or will be undertaken - only in few areas of the South East region. Its main goals are to raise awareness of BME issues, ensure embedded approach and to disseminate good practice.

- Ethnic monitoring

It was noted that care had been taken to ensure that the Regional database provides a facility for recording the ethnicity of the participants on Aimhigher programmes. Whilst this is already being used to inform reports to the Regional Forum and Aimhigher managers, there is considerably more scope for Area programme teams to systematically include ethnic monitoring data in future reports and to assist teams in targeting and programme implementation.