Equality in colleges in Scotland: statistical report 2014
69.3% black FE students in SIMD Q5 successfully complete
81.3% white FE students in SIMD Q1–4 successfully complete
The statistics on the cover show the successful completion rate for black further education (FE) students in the 20% most deprived data zones (quintile 5) of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), compared with the successful completion rate for white FE students from the remaining 80% of SIMD data zones (quintiles 1–4).
Written and produced by Equality Challenge Unit (ECU). Data provided by the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) and analysed by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and ECU.
With thanks to the above agencies for help and guidance in producing this report.
Further information
Stephanie Neave
Equality in colleges in Scotland:
Statistical report 2014
Contents
Introduction 5
About the data 7
Overview 26
Profile over time 26
Level of study 28
Subject areas: HE 30
Subject areas: FE 33
Mode of study 37
Retention and completion outcome 39
Region 43
1 Age 45
Profile over time 46
Level of study 47
Subject areas: HE 56
Subject areas: FE 62
Mode of study 67
Retention and completion outcome 72
Region 82
2 Disability 87
Profile over time 88
Level of study 93
Subject areas: HE 96
Subject areas: FE 99
Mode of study 102
Retention and completion outcome 104
Region 109
3 Ethnicity 112
Profile over time 112
Level of study 117
Subject areas: HE 126
Subject areas: FE 132
Mode of study 137
Retention and completion outcome 142
Region 152
4 Gender 157
Profile over time 157
Level of study 159
Subject areas: HE 163
Subject areas: FE 166
Mode of study 169
Retention and completion outcome 171
Region 176
5 Multiple identities 179
Age and disability 179
Age and ethnicity 185
Age and gender 200
Disability and ethnicity 206
Disability and gender 212
Ethnicity and gender 214
Index 221
Introduction
This is the third national student equality data report for colleges in Scotland. Its aim is to assist the sector in better understanding the main equality challenges for students and directing future efforts to overcome them.
The report presents an equality-focused analysis of information on students during the 2012/13 academic year and participation data from 2006/07 to 2012/13.
Data and analysis is provided on age, disability, ethnicity and gender, as well as on the interplay of these identities (for example, female black students and male disabled students). The report also considers students’ socioeconomic class, based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Where there have been notable changes from last year’s data, this is noted in the commentary. Therefore it may be helpful to read this report alongside last year’s, available to download here: www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/equality-in-colleges-in-scotland-statistical-report-2013
While this report builds upon our previous reports, some aspects have been modified to take into account feedback we received from the ECU college liaison group.
This report, alongside information gathered by colleges at a local level, will continue to provide an evidence base to assist colleges to identify and tackle equality challenges. It will also assist the sector to further develop and assess progress against appropriate equality outcomes and embed equality in regional outcome agreements with the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC).
Online data tables
Download national and regional data tables www.ecu.ac.uk/ publications/equality-in-colleges-in-scotland-statistical-report-2014All data tables presented in this report are also available to download in Excel format. These provide totals for each table, higher and further education (HE and FE) specific breakdowns for regional data and further disaggregate data on ethnicity.
In addition to national figures, this year we have also produced corresponding data tables for multi-college and merger regions. These aim to support regional benchmarking and assist colleges to identify equality challenges at a regional level, particularly where data systems are in the process of being aligned.
Feedback on this report would be welcome: .
About the data
The SFC centrally collates further education statistics through FES and FES2 annual records returns. This covers all college activity funded by the SFC. This ECU report presents an equality-focused analysis of this student data. Further information on the FES collection process can be found at: www.sfc.ac.uk/guidance/SubmittingStatisticalInformation/FE_statistical_data/ Data2012-13/fes_1213.aspx
Utilising the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) rounding strategy, all counts have been rounded to the nearest five in order to protect the confidentiality of individuals. To prevent over-interpretation of small numbers, percentages based on 52 or fewer students or averages based on seven or fewer students have been omitted. This is indicated by ‘..’ in the relevant tables.
With the exception of tables relating to retention and completion outcome, students who attended less than 25 per cent of their course have been excluded from all tables. This information has been included in the retention and completion outcome tables for the purpose of highlighting early withdrawal rates.
Percentages are based on those students for whom the data in question are known. Online versions of the data tables provide unknown figures where possible www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/ equality-in-colleges-in-scotland-statistical-report-2014.
The following section provides definitions and notes for key variables presented in this report. Detailed guidance notes and code lists on the FES dataset are available on the SFC website: www.sfc.ac.uk/guidance/SubmittingStatisticalInformation/FE_statistical_data/Data2012-13/fes_1213.aspx
The SFC publishes performance indicators for Scottish colleges annually. Further information on these are available here: www.sfc.ac.uk/communications/statisticalpublications/2014/ CollegePerformanceIndicators201213.aspx
Age
Student age is calculated as the age of the student at 31 August 2012. This report uses the following age categories: under 16
= 16–19
= 20–24
= 25–29
= 30–34
= 35–39
= 40 and over
Deprivation groups
Data on students’ deprivation classification as determined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is provided to allow analysis of student’s socioeconomic background as it relates to their protected characteristics.
This report presents the students in two categories based on the SIMD data quintiles:
= SIMD Q5 students from the most deprived 20 per cent of data zones
= SIMD Q1–4 students from the remaining 80 per cent of data zones
Further information on SIMD can be found here: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD
Disability
ECU promotes the social model of disability, which views environmental, physical, structural and attitudinal barriers to be disadvantaging – or disabling – for people with impairments. The report presents a student’s disability status as follows:
= non-disabled – those who did not declare a disability
= disabled – those who declared a disability
= unknown (information unknown or refused)
Impairment type
The report presents data on the following impairment types: dyslexia
= blind/partially sighted
= deaf/hearing impairment
= wheelchair user/mobility difficulties
= personal care support
= mental health difficulties
= other unseen impairment not listed above
= multiple impairments
= other impairment
Disabled students’ allowance (DSA)
This identifies whether a student who has declared a disability receives DSA or not. The DSA is a supplementary allowance available to UK domiciled students who incur additional expenditure because of a disability. Only HE level students are eligible to receive DSA.
To assist comparison with national levels of DSA take-up, information is presented on:
= disabled HE students in receipt of DSA
= disabled HE students not in receipt of DSA
= disabled HE students whose DSA information is unknown
It should be noted that in the 2012 report, DSA data was not restricted to only those who declared a disability. This accounts for small differences between trend data concerning DSA provided in the 2013 and 2014 reports compared with the 2012 report.
Ethnicity
Ethnicity categories have been aggregated into the following groups:
= white total
- UK white
- all other white (Irish white, Polish, Gypsy traveller, other white background)
= black and minority ethnic (BME) total
- Asian (includes Chinese)
- black
- mixed and other
The corresponding online tables www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/equality-in-colleges-in-scotland-statistical-report-2014 provide additional detail on those in the all other white category. The online tables contain the following ethnicity categories:
= all white UK white
- Irish white
- Polish
- Gypsy traveller
- other white background
= all BME
- Asian
- black
- mixed
- other
Please note that a different data field has been used to calculate ethnicity from the 2012 report. Whereas in the 2012 report, we utilised the FES2 ethnic2 field, which applied a derived formula to students whose ethnicity was unknown, since 2013 we have used the FES2 ethnic field, which only includes self-reported data. This has resulted in some differences in ethnicity trend data reported this year compared with the 2012 report.
Domicile
Domicile is defined as ‘pre-study permanent home location of student’. The report presents information on the domicile of students determined by the pre-study permanent home location of student:
= UK domiciled
= non-UK domiciled
Gender
The report presents data on the gender of the student. 2012/13 SFC records whether a student’s gender is:
= male
= female
= not recorded
= not specified (unable to be classified as either male or female)
Because of the small numbers of the group, students with a ‘not recorded’ or ‘not specified’ gender have been excluded from the analysis. Students with no recorded information have also been excluded but the numbers of these ‘unknown’ students are given.
Level of study and qualification types
The report presents data on students’ level of study by HE and FE level. Within HE and FE levels, data is presented across the 12 levels of the Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF), which cover mainstream qualifications across education providers in Scotland. The levels provide an indication of the complexity of qualifications and programmes studied, with SCQF level 1 being the least demanding and SCQF level 12 the most demanding.
Students studying programmes outside the SCQF levels are grouped into an ‘other’ category. Students in professional bodies are also included in a separate category.
Qualification types were mapped onto SCQF level using the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s ready reckoner and with advice from SFC. Please note that for the purposes of this report, SVQ level 4 is considered as SCQF level 8 only. For clarity, diplomas (HNC/D level for diploma and degree holders) are considered as SCQF level 8, and postgraduate diplomas and certificates are considered as SCQF levels 11–12. Further information can be found at: www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/21687.html
Qualification types
The levels presented group the following qualification types:
HE
= SCQF levels 11–12 doctoral degree
- master’s degree
- postgraduate diploma and certificate
- Scottish vocational qualification (SVQ)
- national vocational qualification (NVQ) level 5
= SCQF levels 9–10
- ordinary degree
- honours degree
= SCQF level 8
- higher national diploma (HND) or equivalent
- diploma (HND/C level for diploma and degree holders)
- other advanced diplomas
- SVQ or NVQ level 4
= SCQF level 7
- higher national certificate (HNC) or equivalent
- advanced certificate (bridge to HNC/D)
- other advanced certificates
- higher national units not leading to certificate
= professional body
- fellowship, graduateship, membership, associateship, licentiateship
= other HE
FE
= SCQF levels 6–7
- advanced higher (group award and unit)
- certificate of sixth year studies (CSYS)
- higher (group award and unit)
- other non-advanced diploma or equivalent
- SCE/GCE/GCSE examinations
- SVQ, NVQ and GSVQ/GNVQ level 3
= SCQF level 5
- intermediate 2 (group award and unit)
- SVQ, NVQ and GSVQ/ GNVQ level 2
= SCQF level 4
= intermediate 1 (group award and unit)
= other non-advanced certificate
= national units alone not leading to a qualification
= SVQ, NVQ and GSVQ/GNVQ level 1
= SCQF level 3
- access (group award and unit)
- no recognised qualification
Please note that SCQF level 3 also covers awards (where available) and units at SCQF levels 1 and 2 (we are working with SFC to enable disaggregation of this data for future analysis and reports).
= other (not SCQF) – non vocational
- other recognised qualification
- no recognised qualification
= other (not SCQF) – vocational
- other recognised qualification
- no recognised qualification
= other FE
Recognising that a high number of students study in certain qualification levels, we have included more detail for the following levels:
HE
= SCQF level 8
- HND or equivalent
= SCQF level 7
- HNC or equivalent
FE
= SCQF levels 6–7
- advanced higher (unit)
= SVQ level 3
- higher (unit)
= SCQF level 5
- SVQ level 2
- intermediate 2 (unit)
= SCQF level 4
- SVQ level 1
- intermediate 1 (unit)
- other non–advanced certificate
- national units alone not leading to a qualification
= SCQF level 3
- access (group award)
- access (unit)
- no recognised qualification
= other: non–vocational
- other recognised qualification
- no recognised qualification
= other: vocational
- other recognised qualification
- no recognised qualification
Mode of study
The mode of study categories presented cover the following:
= full-time
Programme that meets the new full-time criteria of at least 720 hours for FE (18 student units of measurement (SUMs)) or 480 hours (12 SUMs) for HE of planned notional hours.
= part-time, which includes:
- short full-time
Self-contained full-time programme, ie one not supplemented by other periods of study of 18 weeks duration or less.
- block release
Programme for which students are released by their employer for periods of full-time attendance.
- part-time (day release)
Programme for which students are released by their employer for part of the week.
- other part-time day programme
Part-time programmes held in the day also include day programmes in which periods of evening or twilight study form an integral part of the programme.