Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the Race Disparity Audit in addressing inequalities in higher education.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
At the launch of the Race Disparity Audit in October 2017, the government committed to “explain or change” the ethnic disparities on the audit’s Ethnicity facts and figures website.
Since October 2017 the government has taken action, including on tackling disparities in access to and participation in higher education (HE) for ethnic minority students.
The audit’s ethnicity facts and figures website has been continually updated and extended to allow the public to see if ethnic disparities are improving or not, across over 160 important areas of public life. This has included the publication of data on undergraduate degree results and entrants at different HE providers with high, medium and low entry tariffs.
On February 1, the government announced action to tackle disparities in access to, and successful participation in, HE for ethnic minority students; and disparities in recruitment and progression for ethnic minority academics. This included plans to work with league table compilers on how they might consider performance on tackling inequalities between ethnic groups in university rankings, promoting the new transparency condition, and encouraging HE providers to make use of tools such as the Race at Work charter and the Race Equality Charter in their efforts to address inequality.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the low numbers of university academics and staff from black and minority ethnic backgrounds on the attainment of black and minority ethnic students.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Higher education institutions are independent and responsible for decisions about who they employ. Universities, like every employer, must ensure they meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. Through the Race Disparity Audit, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister set out her expectation that more must be done to create a workforce that is representative of British society today. On 1 February, the government launched measures to drive change in tackling inequalities between ethnic groups in higher education.
Equality and Diversity in higher education is a priority for government and the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS will use Access and Participation Plans to hold higher education providers to account for disparities in access and attainment of black and ethnic minority students.
This year, for the first time, registered higher education providers will be required to publish data on measures including attainment broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic groups. This will increase transparency on attainment gaps for ethnic minority students, shining a light on those providers that are not performing well.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what role the Office for Students will play in monitoring the performance of universities in reducing ethnic inequalities in university academic staffing; and what plans they have to require universities to address such inequalities.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government and the Office for Students (OfS) are focused on addressing inequalities in higher education. Government consulted on the publication of data on senior staff remuneration, including in relation to gender and ethnicity. The OfS retains the power to require the disclosure of such information through its accounts direction.
Higher education institutions are independent and responsible for decisions about who they employ. Universities, like every employer, must ensure they meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. On February 1, the government announced measures to tackle ethnic disparities in higher education including encouraging higher education providers to make use of tools such as the Race at Work Charter and the Race Equality Charter to drive forward a step-change in the recruitment and progression of ethnic minority employees.
The government has also consulted on ethnicity pay reporting in order to inform future government policy.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last met UK Vice-Chancellors to discuss (1) the proportion of admission offers made to UK-domiciled black and other ethnic minority students, and (2) the number of black and Asian UK-domiciled citizens appointed to academic posts in UK universities.
Answered by Lord Nash
Widening access and success for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is a priority. This Government is committed to increasing BME (Black and Minority Ethnicity) participation in higher education (HE) by 20% by 2020. We want to ensure that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from HE, irrespective of their background or gender.
Our most recent guidance to the Director of Fair Access placed a strong emphasis on increasing the number of BME students in HE by 2020 and to address disparities in outcomes (retention, degree attainment and progression to employment/ further study) for students from BME backgrounds. HE publicly-funded providers are subject to maximum fee caps for undergraduate courses. Those wishing to charge higher fees must have an access agreement agreed with the Director. HE publicly-funded providers without an access agreement can charge up to £6,000 for a full-time course in 2017/18 or up to £6,165 if they have a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) rating of ‘Meets Expectations’. HE publicly-funded providers with an access agreement can charge up to £9,000 for a full-time course in 2017/18 or up to £9,250 if they have a TEF rating of ‘Meets Expectations’.
For 2017/18, access plans agreed by the Director means HE providers will spend more than £833 million on measures to improve access and student success for students from disadvantaged backgrounds including minority ethnic groups - up significantly from £404 million in 2009.
Recent research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that BME groups are more likely to participate in HE than white British people. They also have relatively higher participation rates at the most selective institutions, taking into account prior attainment, student characteristic and other factors. The entry rate for English 18 year olds from state schools increased for all ethnic groups in 2016. The entry rates are the highest ever recorded for each group, with the largest increases for pupils in the Asian ethnic group (1.9 percentage point increase to 43%) and the Mixed ethnic group (1.2 percentage point increase to 33%) while the lowest entry rate was for pupils in the White ethnic group (0.9 percentage point increase to 29%).
As autonomous organisations, HE providers are responsible for their own admissions policies and procedures. DfE Ministers have had no meetings with Vice-Chancellors to discuss admissions offers.
In addition, subject to Parliament, the Higher Education and Research Bill will:
- Establish a new regulator for higher education in England, the Office for Students, which will have a statutory duty to consider the need to promote equality of opportunity for students as it relates to access and participation in higher education.
- Introduce a Transparency Duty which will shine a light on university admissions and performance requiring providers to publish application, offer, acceptance, drop-out and attainment rates of students broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background.
- Introduce a new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which will ensure institutions are incentivised to provide excellent teaching outcomes for all of their students including those from BME and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Regarding the appointment of black and Asian UK- domiciled individuals to academic posts, I commend the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education’s Diversifying Leadership Programme, which is tackling under-representation of BME staff in leadership roles in higher education.
I also commend the Equality Challenge Unit’s Race Equality Charter, which is awarded to recognise the advancement of minority ethnic staff and students in higher education through representation, progression and success for all.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the work of (1) the Higher Education Academy, and (2) the Higher Education Statistics Agency, in relation to equal opportunities in higher education for black and Asian UK-domiciled students in (a) undergraduate studies, and (b) post-graduate studies.
Answered by Lord Nash
Widening access and success for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is a priority. This Government is committed to increasing BME (Black and Minority Ethnicity) participation in higher education (HE) by 20% by 2020. We want to ensure that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from HE, irrespective of their background or gender.
Our most recent guidance to the Director of Fair Access placed a strong emphasis on increasing the number of BME students in HE by 2020 and to address disparities in outcomes (retention, degree attainment and progression to employment/ further study) for students from BME backgrounds. HE publicly-funded providers are subject to maximum fee caps for undergraduate courses. Those wishing to charge higher fees must have an access agreement agreed with the Director. HE publicly-funded providers without an access agreement can charge up to £6,000 for a full-time course in 2017/18 or up to £6,165 if they have a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) rating of ‘Meets Expectations’. HE publicly-funded providers with an access agreement can charge up to £9,000 for a full-time course in 2017/18 or up to £9,250 if they have a TEF rating of ‘Meets Expectations’.
For 2017/18, access plans agreed by the Director means HE providers will spend more than £833 million on measures to improve access and student success for students from disadvantaged backgrounds including minority ethnic groups - up significantly from £404 million in 2009.
Recent research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that BME groups are more likely to participate in HE than white British people. They also have relatively higher participation rates at the most selective institutions, taking into account prior attainment, student characteristic and other factors. The entry rate for English 18 year olds from state schools increased for all ethnic groups in 2016. The entry rates are the highest ever recorded for each group, with the largest increases for pupils in the Asian ethnic group (1.9 percentage point increase to 43%) and the Mixed ethnic group (1.2 percentage point increase to 33%) while the lowest entry rate was for pupils in the White ethnic group (0.9 percentage point increase to 29%).
As autonomous organisations, HE providers are responsible for their own admissions policies and procedures. DfE Ministers have had no meetings with Vice-Chancellors to discuss admissions offers.
In addition, subject to Parliament, the Higher Education and Research Bill will:
- Establish a new regulator for higher education in England, the Office for Students, which will have a statutory duty to consider the need to promote equality of opportunity for students as it relates to access and participation in higher education.
- Introduce a Transparency Duty which will shine a light on university admissions and performance requiring providers to publish application, offer, acceptance, drop-out and attainment rates of students broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background.
- Introduce a new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which will ensure institutions are incentivised to provide excellent teaching outcomes for all of their students including those from BME and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Regarding the appointment of black and Asian UK- domiciled individuals to academic posts, I commend the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education’s Diversifying Leadership Programme, which is tackling under-representation of BME staff in leadership roles in higher education.
I also commend the Equality Challenge Unit’s Race Equality Charter, which is awarded to recognise the advancement of minority ethnic staff and students in higher education through representation, progression and success for all.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what figures they have access on the representation of UK-domiciled black and Asian ethnic minorities in comparison to UK population averages amongst (1) UK-domiciled students, and (2) academic staff, in (a) Russell Group, and (b) non-Russell Group, universities.
Answered by Lord Nash
Widening access and success for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is a priority. This Government is committed to increasing BME (Black and Minority Ethnicity) participation in higher education (HE) by 20% by 2020. We want to ensure that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from HE, irrespective of their background or gender.
Our most recent guidance to the Director of Fair Access placed a strong emphasis on increasing the number of BME students in HE by 2020 and to address disparities in outcomes (retention, degree attainment and progression to employment/ further study) for students from BME backgrounds. HE publicly-funded providers are subject to maximum fee caps for undergraduate courses. Those wishing to charge higher fees must have an access agreement agreed with the Director. HE publicly-funded providers without an access agreement can charge up to £6,000 for a full-time course in 2017/18 or up to £6,165 if they have a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) rating of ‘Meets Expectations’. HE publicly-funded providers with an access agreement can charge up to £9,000 for a full-time course in 2017/18 or up to £9,250 if they have a TEF rating of ‘Meets Expectations’.
For 2017/18, access plans agreed by the Director means HE providers will spend more than £833 million on measures to improve access and student success for students from disadvantaged backgrounds including minority ethnic groups - up significantly from £404 million in 2009.
Recent research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that BME groups are more likely to participate in HE than white British people. They also have relatively higher participation rates at the most selective institutions, taking into account prior attainment, student characteristic and other factors. The entry rate for English 18 year olds from state schools increased for all ethnic groups in 2016. The entry rates are the highest ever recorded for each group, with the largest increases for pupils in the Asian ethnic group (1.9 percentage point increase to 43%) and the Mixed ethnic group (1.2 percentage point increase to 33%) while the lowest entry rate was for pupils in the White ethnic group (0.9 percentage point increase to 29%).
As autonomous organisations, HE providers are responsible for their own admissions policies and procedures. DfE Ministers have had no meetings with Vice-Chancellors to discuss admissions offers.
In addition, subject to Parliament, the Higher Education and Research Bill will:
- Establish a new regulator for higher education in England, the Office for Students, which will have a statutory duty to consider the need to promote equality of opportunity for students as it relates to access and participation in higher education.
- Introduce a Transparency Duty which will shine a light on university admissions and performance requiring providers to publish application, offer, acceptance, drop-out and attainment rates of students broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background.
- Introduce a new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which will ensure institutions are incentivised to provide excellent teaching outcomes for all of their students including those from BME and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Regarding the appointment of black and Asian UK- domiciled individuals to academic posts, I commend the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education’s Diversifying Leadership Programme, which is tackling under-representation of BME staff in leadership roles in higher education.
I also commend the Equality Challenge Unit’s Race Equality Charter, which is awarded to recognise the advancement of minority ethnic staff and students in higher education through representation, progression and success for all.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they have given to the funding of voluntary organisations working to facilitate the access of children and young people to specialist bereavement services.
Answered by Lord Nash
Counselling services for children and young people, including bereavement support, are commissioned regionally by local authorities and clinical commissioning groups. Local Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWB) undertake a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) to develop an understanding of the health and wellbeing needs of the community, including mental health needs, and base their provision on that. These services may be provided through Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS), whilst some regions may also choose to additionally fund voluntary organisations to provide bereavement services.
Nationally, the Government has awarded £11.2 million to the NSPCC for ChildLine and the NSPCC HelpLine from 2011-2015. These helplines support children by offering them the ability to talk to a counsellor about any difficulties, including bereavement, 24 hours a day.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they issue to commissioners of Children's Services to ensure the availability of bereavement counselling to children and young people.
Answered by Lord Nash
Counselling services for children and young people, including bereavement support, are commissioned regionally by local authorities and clinical commissioning groups. Local Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWB) undertake a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) to develop an understanding of the health and wellbeing needs of the community, including mental health needs, and base their provision on that. These services may be provided through Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS), whilst some regions may also choose to additionally fund voluntary organisations to provide bereavement services.
Nationally, the Government has awarded £11.2 million to the NSPCC for ChildLine and the NSPCC HelpLine from 2011-2015. These helplines support children by offering them the ability to talk to a counsellor about any difficulties, including bereavement, 24 hours a day.