Student Success and Progression. The University carries out a wide range of activities that seek to support student success and progression onto their career path or post-graduate study. This requires the collaboration of various departments and teams across the University, including the Colleges, Academic Departments and their support structures, Registry, Wellbeing, Disability Services, Academic Office, Sport Roehampton, the Learning Services team, the Department of Academic Enhancement, Roehampton Abroad and the Roehampton Students’ Union. The University's commitment to widening participation is reflected in a significant shift in the demographics of the student population at Roehampton over the past 10 years. By 2014/15, half our students were from the most deprived neighbourhoods; 54% were XXXX; 56% were first in family to attend university; and 60% were from low income families. In this context the University's Learning and Teaching Strategy seeks to promote inclusive learning and student engagement and to maximise outcomes for our students regardless of their backgrounds. Because of the profile of our students, much of this work is targeted at students from disadvantaged backgrounds underrepresented at university. Academic enhancement is led by the Learning, Teaching and Enhancement Unit (LTEU). Current work to deliver the learning and teaching strategy focuses on: Continuous professional development: the LTEU runs HEA and SEDA accredited academic professional development programmes, including peer review, to drive improvements in the quality of teaching and student engagement in learning. A key focus for this activity is to support academic colleagues to develop their skills in teaching students from a broad range of backgrounds. This work over the past two years has resulted in 90% of academic staff at Roehampton having a nationally recognised teaching award. Targeted enhancement projects to embed inclusive learning and bridge attainment gaps. The University has recently completed work to take coursework assessment and feedback online and to establish a framework for alternative assessments to meet the learning needs of all our students. Current work focuses on helping students to have a better understanding of how to be successful in their assessments, including around assessment criteria and feedback and ‘assessment for learning’. The LTEU has also led two projects on improving academic outcomes for BAME students that have contributed to a narrowing of the attainment gap fo...
Student Success and Progression. 36. Our work on student retention and success builds on our outreach and access work through the provision of support and skills training which maximises students’ potential to complete their degrees successfully. A summary is provided in Table 4 below: Table 4. Summary of Student Success Activities Main Focus Programme or Activity Academic support and skills development Study Skills Workshops Personal Academic Tutelage system Peer support Learning Resources Centre Library Reading Strategy Pastoral support Personal Academic Tutelage system College internal support system Higher Education Support Team (HEST) Services Student Welfare and Wellbeing Workshops Peer support Counselling services to improve student mental health Financial support Bursaries and access to financial assistance funds throughout programme Employability Employability strategy Internships Careers Advice and Guidance Volunteering College internal support system 37. Our College support system facilitates all stages of the student lifecycle and aids in meeting the needs of today’s students, providing structured and coherent support from arrival through to graduation. Our College teams engage with students in an active and targeted way on enrolment and this is continued through our networks of Second and Third Year Students who will buddy new students in their early weeks of study.
Student Success and Progression. In total, the University of Suffolk plans to spend £802,000 on student progression and success measures in 2017-18.
Student Success and Progression. Through its Access Agreement, the University of Manchester will invest £2,254,720 in 2017/18 into student success and progression26. In particular, this will support staff appointments providing financial advice and guidance to students, support for disabled students, careers support and data management information. We are also prioritising further development of our retention strategy and work to better understand differential attainment. Our activities will aim to address the specific challenges which students from widening participation backgrounds can face in making the transition to university study and subsequent progression into employment or further study.
Student Success and Progression. In total, UCS plans to spend £542,000 on student progression and success measures in 2016-17.
Student Success and Progression. In total, the University of Suffolk plans to spend £971,000 on student progression and success measures in 2018-19. The University has identified that retention and achievement rates have shown negative performance over the past three Monitoring Returns24 and we are therefore working on the development of a Progression Strategy based on the findings in the HEFCE ‘Delivering opportunities for students and maximising their success’ report 25. We acknowledge that mature students, male students, students who applied through Clearing, and those with a disability (other than a specific learning difficulty) have been historically most likely to withdraw. However, we also know that the majority of our students could be considered as ‘under-represented’ students on the basis of specific characteristics or their progression from low-participation areas or schools. The Progression Strategy therefore aims to work across the student population, and with specific target groups, to improve the factors that can lead to differential outcomes in higher education, including engagement with teaching and learning; academic and independent learning skills; expectations and self-confidence; and cultural and social capital. The initial actions from this new Progression Strategy will be in place for new entrants in academic year 2017/18, and will roll out across all year groups.
Student Success and Progression. Non continuation rate UEA Benchmark England All entrants 4.8% 4.8% 7% Low participation neighbourhood (LPN) 4.6% 5.3% 7.7% Other neighbourhood 3.3% 3.5% 5.4% Mature previous HE 6.8% 9% 10.4% Mature no previous HE 16.7% 11.3% 12.8% Table 3: non-continuation performance indicators for 2012/3 entrants POLAR3. Source: HESA Performance measures relating to student success are outlined in Table 3. Overall for all entrants the University performs well against our benchmark, and this is also seen for students from both low participation and other neighbourhoods and mature students with previous HE experience. However, for one group of more disadvantaged students, mature students with no previous HE experience, the University does not achieve our benchmarks. Of particular concern is the difference in performance between LPN and other neighbourhoods, and between mature students with and without previous HE experience. Understanding and addressing these differences in performance remains a key focus with the creation of additional resource within our Business Intelligence Unit dedicated to exploring the available data to help us understand this and other themes relevant to widening participation. These performance gaps informed the decision in our 2015/16 Access Agreement to rebalance spend proportionally from financial support to student success. This balance will continue to be informed by evidence as it becomes available.
Student Success and Progression. New Student Welcome: The first few weeks at University are one of the highest risk points for students deciding to leave for a number of reasons. The key ones being, homesickness, poor organisation, limited opportunities to make friends or lack of money to participate. At the university of Bedfordshire, it is our belief students are more likely to succeed if given the best possible start to their student journey. • The scheme, developed in partnership with Beds Students’ Union ,will provide a series of events both academic and just for fun at no cost to students to enable them to participate fully in the university experience. The events focus on student and staff integration with daily themes. Examples include, International, well-being, clubs and societies, non-academic special interest classes and course base zones to enable networking with course teams, support staff and other students. • The investment in the new student welcome will also include a ‘refreshers’ week, about six weeks in to the first term. This will provide opportunity for students to further engage with support functions and other areas of the university. This is aimed to provide further opportunities for students who may be at risk of withdrawing to further engage enhance their chances of success whilst further enhancing and improving the student experience for the wider university community. The new student welcome is designed to encompass all parts of the university community including mature students and other non-traditional learners to maximise student success opportunities for all elements of the university community • Peer-mentoring and peer-assisted learning: Initiatives to enhance retention by raising levels of student progression, improve resilience and help to maintain academic momentum towards their target award. To do this we focus on students’ preparedness for success, their ambition and recognition of their own potential, and the visibility and accessibility of academic support services. We provide a peer mentoring scheme, part of the Access Partnership Associate Scheme, working with fellow students providing frequent contact and support for progression and success. • We make a significant investment in the quality of the student experience by means of, for example, improved forms of “coaching”, personal tutoring, and support networks and expanded and enhanced arrangements for peer-assisted learning.
Student Success and Progression. 34. Our work on student retention and success builds on our outreach and access work through the provision of support and skills training which maximises students’ potential to complete their degrees successfully. A summary is provided in Table 4 below: Table 4. Summary of Student Success Activities Main Focus Programme or Activity Academic support and skills development Study Skills Workshops Personal Academic Tutelage system Peer support Learning Resources Centre Library Reading Strategy Pastoral support Personal Academic Tutelage system College internal support system Higher Education Support Team (HEST) Services Student Welfare and Wellbeing Workshops Peer support Counselling services to improve student mental health Financial support Bursaries and access to financial assistance funds throughout programme Employability Employability strategy Internships Careers Advice and Guidance Volunteering College internal support system
Student Success and Progression. The School has an integrated strategy which provides a holistic student support package from first application to award completion. Those elements supported by this Access Agreement in 2018/19 will be: • the Student Funding Officer (50% of fte funded through the Access Agreement). Based in the Registry, the role holder provides higher education funding advice, and an information service to applicants and students, to facilitate students taking responsibility for their own finances and being proactive in seeking funding from alternative sources before and during their studies. An individualised service is available on request and is particularly offered to care leaver applicants and students. The Funding Officer works closely with the Widening Participation Officer. • Study skills support tutor – in view of the significant proportion of students within the School declaring a disability and the changes to the Disabled Student Allowances from 2015/16 onwards (where the government will only fund the most specialist non- medical help), the School has embedded an element of the previous DSA support into the Access Agreement to assure continued high retention and achievement rates among this group of students. All the School’s support is aimed at encouraging personal responsibility, independence and autonomy and goes above and beyond the reasonable adjustments required under the Equality Act.
