Equality and Diversity – Annual Monitoring Report Academic Achievement for 2015-16. Recruitment between 2015-16 and progress against the Equality and Diversity Action Plan and Strategic Objectives.
1.Purpose of the Report
1.1To provide information regarding learner achievement and staff recruitment.The report includes learner achievement and success rates for 2015-16 and staff recruitment for 2015-16. The report complements the college’s Equality and Diversity Action Plan action and its corresponding Equality Objectives and is to be read as part of this group.
1.2 Learners achievement and pass rates and for 2015-16 are 82%and 91% while the national average rates are 82% for achievement and 90% for pass data.
2.Background
2.1The College is committed to the promotion and celebration of diversity, and supports social cohesion and harmony through a culture that challenges stereotypes, celebrates and respects differences and upholds the protected characteristics of the Equality Act (2010) and the Public Sector Duty (2011). The college is required to overseeits statutory duty in relation to the Equality Act (2010) and the impact of actions taken to improve practice.
3.Links to Strategic Objectives and Targets
Objective 1 -To develop a strong, vibrant teaching and learning culture that inspires our students and staff, enables excellence and enhances our reputation.
Objective 5 – To promote, celebrate and respect equality and diversity.
4.Key Issues during 2015-16 relating to the Equality Report,Action Plan and Objectives
4.1 New themes have been added to the 2015-16Equality and Diversity Action Plan that comply with Government legislation (Prevent Duty). British Values, Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare are also new additions to the 2015-16 plan and they reflect the recurringthemes within the Common Inspection Framework (September 2015).
4.2The College pays regular and close attention to the retention, attendance and success of every learner. Individual learner’s progress is noted within course team meetings, curriculum reviews, and partnership meetings with Progression Coaches (PC), managers, lecturers and learners. The group that has been most at risk during the 2015/16 academic year has been learners who are Young Carers (21 learners). The attendance of this group is in line with the College overall average attendance. The retention of this group is at least 10% lower than the College average.
4.3In order to improve retention within this vulnerable group a wide range of additional support has been put in place to enable the learners from this group to participate in learning. For example, individualised timetables and additional one-to-one support from Progression Coaches. The Progression Coaches also update and provide guidance about outstanding course work that has been missed so that learners can catch up. They also closely liaise with lecturers so that learners can attend appointments with the person who they are caring for. Progression Coaches also organise access to the College’s counselling service and referral to local Young Carers Support Groups. The main reason for the lower retention compared to the college average is that some learners from this group leave due to the pressure of studying and their caring responsibilities. This issue will also be examined within the self-assessment process in order to evaluate any variation in achievement, value-added and high grade performance within this group.
5.Learner Achievement 2015/16
(Table 1): 2015/16 Success Rates by Gender and Age
Age / Gender / Leavers / Achievement% / Retention
% / Pass
%
19+ / F / 1792 / 89 / 92 / 97
19+ / M / 1031 / 87 / 92 / 95
16-18 / F / 1512 / 79 / 90 / 88
16-18 / M / 1689 / 74 / 87 / 86
All / All / 6024 / 82 / 90 / 91
5.1 Male and female achievement shows a 2% difference for 19+ learners and a 5% difference for 16-18-year-old learners. The data identifies that females have a stronger achievement than males overall and especially for learners who are 19+. Achievement continues to be significantly higher for adults than 16-18 learners. This is as a result of more short programmes for the unemployed. Retention is higher in adults, again for the same reason. Learners who are between the ages of 16-18 are closely monitored for retention andachievement using a range of intervention strategies that reflect the learner’s needs and the programme being studied. These include close attendance monitoring, academic tutorials, and 1:1 tutorial with Progression Coaches, and more focused learner support is referred to other agencies including counselling. Each term the Curriculum Review and Peer Review processes focus upon ‘at risk’ learners by different groups. Additional academic and pastoral support is planned for 19+ learners during 2016-17 in order to improve retention for this group.
5.2There is a variance in attainment between 16-18 and 19+ learners. At long level 3, 16-18-year-old learners are significantly better retained than 19+, resulting in an increased difference in achievement. This is because of Access students’ lower retention levels. Timetable changes and curriculum redesign are in place for 2016/17.
5.3The number of non-white British students is 3.2% of the total, an increase from the previous year. Although individually the numbers were too small to be statistically significant, when totalled they give an achievement rate of 86%, 4% higher than the whole College average for 2015-16.
5.4At 19+ there is an8% difference in achievement rates between those who declare a learning difficulty or disability (83%) and those do who not (91%). At aged 16-18, there is a 1% point difference between those who have declared they have a difficulty or disability and those who have not, at 77% and 76%respectively. The percentage of learners declaring a learning difficulty or disability has increased from 28% to 34% from the previous year.
(Table 3): 2015/16 ALS and Success Rates
Leavers / Retention % / Pass% / Achievement
%
482 / 98% / 85 / 84
5.4The retention is very strong for learners who receive ALS in contrast their achievement which is lower (-6pp) than the learners who do not require it. However, the retention rates for learners receiving ALShave increased 4% points since the previous year. Achievement has declined by (-2pp) and pass rate (-9pp) since the previous year. Finally, there is no significant differences in success for learners who do not receive ALS (2pp variance).
5.5Monitoring
The College has a number of systems in place for monitoring learner and staff statistics;these include the Individual Learning plans, the Staff Individual Record, ProMonitor and ProSolution.
5.6Recruitment and Selection Diversity Statistics
In line with the Colleges recruitment and selection policy, Managers are not provided with candidate’s diversity information and are shortlisted based only on the essential and desirable criteria for the post. The Equality Act describes a disability as an ‘adverse long-term effect on the individual’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’ and it is for the candidate to decide whether they consider themselves to have a disability. Diversity information is collected on:
- Gender
- Marital Status
- Disability
- Ethnic Origin
- Age
- Religion or belief
- Sexual Orientation
5.7The following dataanalysesthe diversity elements cited abovefrom both public and internal job applications received between 1 August 2015 and 31 May 2015. The updated recruitment system only reports by exception and therefore the number of categories listed below are not the only categories available for candidates to choose from, but are the only categories which were selected.
5.8Please note that these figures reflect a 10-month reporting period to fall in-line with the academic year. June and July are key months for recruitment, therefore figures should reflect in an increasingly positively manner, in terms of trends and total number of applications by the end of the reporting period at 31st July 2016.
5.9.Gender
Gender / Total Applications / Interviewed / Rejected / AppointedTo May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016
Male / 204 / 76 / 53 / 22
Female / 391 / 114 / 71 / 43
Not Specified / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
To date there have been more female than male applicants – this is in line with trends in previous years.
5.10Marital Status
Marital Status / Total Applications / Interviewed / Rejected / AppointedTo May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016
Married / 196 / 74 / 47 / 26
Single / 264 / 84 / 58 / 26
Widowed / 1 / 1 / 0 / 1
Divorced/
Separated / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Co-habiting / 124 / 28 / 18 / 10
Civil Partnership / 3 / 2 / 1 / 1
Not Specified / 7 / 0 / 1 / 1
There have been more applications to date from candidates who state that their marital status is single. 44% of applications have been from those whose status is single, 33% from those who are married, 21% who state that they are co-habiting and 1% eachfrom those are widowed or in a civil partnership.
5.11Disability
Disability / Total Applications / Interviewed / Rejected / AppointedTo May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016
Non-disabled / 532 / 171 / 109 / 62
Disabled / 29 / 9 / 29 / 0
Not specified / 34 / 10 / 6 / 4
5% of applicants to date were from people who stated that they had a disability. There have been no candidates appointed to date who state that they have a disability.
5.12Ethnic Origin
Ethnic Origin / Total Applications / Interviewed / Rejected / AppointedWhite British / 567 / 184 / 121 / 63
Black or Black British / 6 / 2 / 0 / 2
Asian or Asian British / 9 / 1 / 1 / 0
Not Specified / 7 / 1 / 0 / 1
Mixed / 6 / 1 / 0 / 0
Applications from ethnic groups other than White British comprise 5% of applications to date. To date 5 candidates from Black or Black British, Asian or Asian British or non-specified ethnic groups have been interviewed; of these, 3 have been appointed - this comprises 5% of total successful candidates. This is in line with the gradually increasing trend of applications from other ethnic groups than White British over the recent 6-year periods. Applications from other ethnic groups continue to be encouraged via advertisement both locally and nationally, involving adverts to Equality North East and other diversity groups.As of 31st May 2016, there are 7 current members of staff who identify themselves as an ethnic group other than White British. Of the 7, 5 identify as Asian and the remaining 2 stated White Other as their ethnicity.
5.13Age
Age Band / Total Applications / Interviewed / Rejected / AppointedTo May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016
16-18 / 25 / 8 / 3 / 5
19-29 / 205 / 58 / 41 / 17
30-39 / 119 / 34 / 21 / 13
40-49 / 132 / 51 / 32 / 19
50-59 / 95 / 31 / 24 / 7
60 + / 12 / 5 / 3 / 2
Not Specified / 7 / 3 / 2 / 1
To date there is a good range of applications and appointments from all age groups. This is in line with previous reporting years.
5.14Religion or Belief
Religion or Belief / Total / Interviewed / Rejected / AppointedTo May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016
Christian / 308 / 112 / 69 / 43
Muslim / 4 / 2 / 0 / 0
Sikh / 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
Prefer not to say / 14 / 2 / 1 / 1
Other / 14 / 3 / 2 / 1
No belief / 250 / 70 / 49 / 21
To date, trends appear to be in line with previous years, with Christian and No Belief comprising the most applications (94%). 6% of applications to date have been from those who have indicated that they are Muslim, Sikh, Other, or prefer not to say.
5.15Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation / Total Applications / Interviewed / Rejected / AppointedTo May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016 / To May 2016
Bisexual / 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
Gay / 16 / 7 / 5 / 2
Heterosexual / 546 / 176 / 115 / 61
Prefer Not To Say / 28 / 6 / 4 / 2
Not Specified / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Note that the updated recruitment system reports by exception and therefore the number of categories listed above are not the only categories available for candidates to choose from, but are the only categories which were selected.
The majority of applications have been from those who identify as heterosexual (92%), 4% have been made by those who identify as Bisexual or Gay, with 5% who preferred not to specify. Of those candidates who were shortlisted and interviewed, 2% of successful candidates identified as Gay or prefer not to say. This is also in line with trends during recent years.
5.16Variance if differential attainment between groups:
Age
Learners aged 16-18 perform less well than adult learners. There is a significant, 12pp variance in achievement, a result of lower pass rates at level 1 (81%) and short qualifications (66%) for learners aged 16-18. As a consequence, all learners aged 16-18 on short and level 1 qualifications, will be placed on an ‘at risk’ register within teams for close monitoring and swift intervention, to hopefully close the gap in the next year.
Gender
The gender gap in terms of achievement has widened in 2015-16. Female learners achieve better than male learners with a 6pp variance in achievement. This is because female learners were better retained (91% vs 89%) and more passed their qualifications (93% vs 89%). Performance by male learners at level 1 has been identified to be the key issue, particularly the pass rate. This will be addressed within quality improvement plans across the college.
High Needs
Retention of high need learners and those who are in receipt of additional learning support is very high at 99% and 98% (respectively), significantly higher than all other learners. Pass rates for these learners are below the college average at 87% and 85% resulting in achievement rates of 86% and 84%, not much higher than the college average of 82%.
Young Carers and Looked After
Learners who are young carers or looked after perform less well than learners who are not. There were 79 leavers who were cared for in 2015-16, achievement rates were 70%, -12pp compared to 82% achievement rates for learners who were not cared for. Similarly, learners who are young carers do not achieve in line with learners who are not at 74%, 8pp variance. This was primarily due to retention (84%). However, pass rates for this cohort of learners is high at 90% and in line with other learners. There were 43 leavers who were young carers in 2015-16.
Free School Meals
In the reporting year, there were 938 leavers eligible for free school meals. Achievement for these learners was at 75%, significantly lower than the college average (-7pp) and also lower than for learners who were not eligible for free school meals (-8pp). Learners in this cohort were retained in line with all other learners at 90% but the pass rate is below college average by -7pp at 84%.
Learning Difficulty / Disability
The volume of learners who claim to have a learning disability / difficulty has increased to 34%. There is a significant gap in achievement in terms of pass rate for these learners (-7pp). The pass rate is 86% compared to 93% of those that do not have a disability or learning difficulty. Learners who have a disability or learning difficulty are slightly better retained (+1pp) at 91%.
Ethnicity
There are no significant achievement gaps between ethnic groups; white learners achieve in line with BME learners at 82% and 83% respectively.
5.17College Leadership Group Analysis
At 31 May 2016, there were 4 members of the College Leadership Group, 2 males and 2 females. None have a disability and all are White British. The age profile was:
Age Group / Total number of staff / Percentage40-49 / 2 / 50%
50-59 / 2 / 50%
5.18Gender Pay Gap
The Gender Pay Gap at 31 May 2016 was as follows:
Average Hourly Rate / % Pay Gap / Positive toward Male or FemaleMale / Female
Senior Managers (Senior Post holders) / 38.87 / £41.62 / 6.6 / Female
Managers (Directors & Managers) / 20.18 / £20.28 / 0.5 / Female
Teachers / 12.89 / £13.12 / 1.8 / Female
LSA/Support Workers / 7.72 / £8.36 / 7.7 / Female
Admin / 8.43 / £8.63 / 2.3 / Female
The Gender Pay Gap is calculated by working out the average hourly pay (excluding overtime) for all men and women in at the College and then calculating the difference.
5.19Staff Employment
The total number of staff employed by the College at 31 May 2016 was 611. Note that the figures within this report include hourly paid staff and apprentices.
5.20Gender
388 females and 223males were employed as of 31 May 2016. The gender mix has remained stable with regard to previous years.
5.21Ethnicity
At 31 May 2016, there were 4 members of staff (0.7%) within non-white ethnic groups, in the previous year this figure was 1%.
5.22Disability
Currently there are2members of staff who declare themselves to have a disability which represents 0.3% of the total staff. This is a reduction of 0.5% points.
5.22Age
The age profile of staff in the year ending 31st May 2016:
Age Group / Total number of staff / Percentage16-18 / 42 / 6.9%
19-29 / 144 / 23.6%
30-39 / 129 / 21.1%
40-49 / 121 / 19.7%
50-59 / 126 / 20.6%
60+ / 49 / 8%
6.1Teaching and Learning; Financial/Value for Money/Legal/ Risk/ Human Resource/Safeguarding/ Equality & Diversity/Health & Safety Implications
6.2The College meets its statutory duty in relation to equality and diversity, and ensures that all staff complete online equality and diversity, safeguarding, health and safety, and disability awareness programmes. The College also supports staff by offering access to the sports centre, and discounted health care, and public transport initiatives.
7.Conclusion
7.1There has been good progress made in relation to a significant majority of issues identified in the 2015-16 Equality and Diversity Action Plan. The overarching aim of the actions undertaken is to create an environment that confronts inequality and celebrates diversity.
7.3 In order to support equality and diversity we will continue to:
- Embed Equality and Diversity into lessons, underpinned with a range of CPD activities from academic and support staff including the Prevent agenda, British values and personal development,behaviour and welfare (PDBW).
- Cascade best practice in team meetings.
- Develop and deliver group and ‘one to one’ equality and diversity CPD for lectures and support staff.
- Continue to monitor and support the College partners with up to date policies and a robust quality monitoring system with a focus on Prevent, British Values and equality and diversity information and training if required.
- Ensure that the College monitoring report includes gender pay gaps and statistics on success rates.
- Have two equality and diversity events built within the College calendar that will complement the wide range of planned events, including further awareness training for all regarding the Prevent agenda.
- Raise awareness of other cultures to promote tolerance and understanding.
- Celebrate key dates /weeks.
- Continue to educate learners especially with the ‘Prevent’ agenda.
- Continue to grow and host the wide range of wellbeing, and equality and diversity events across college.
- Continue to deliver flexible provision for under-represented groups.
- Ensure that all groups are treated equally and with respect by acting on informed feedback from a wide range of focus groups and surveys.
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