Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there is any guidance from (a) her Department and (b) the Office for Students on the use of POLAR3 and POLAR4 for university admissions by higher education providers.

The department does not issue guidance to higher education (HE) providers on the use of Participation of Local Areas (POLAR)3 or POLAR4 in admissions decisions. Universities are autonomous institutions and are responsible for their own admissions policies and decisions.

The Office for Students (OfS) publishes information on area-based measures of higher education participation, including POLAR and TUNDRA. POLAR measures participation rates in higher education by local area, while TUNDRA Tracking Underrepresentation by Area (TUNDRA) uses linked individual-level data on state-funded mainstream school pupils in England to identify areas with lower rates of progression to higher education. The OfS recommends the use of TUNDRA where an area-based measure of young participation is needed, as it provides more precise targeting and improved consistency with other participation measures, although POLAR may still provide additional insights in some circumstances. HE providers remain responsible for determining whether and how such measures are used in admissions processes.