Closing The Attainment Gap

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There is a significant gap between the proportion of UK-domiciled BME students who receive a First Class Honours (1st) or an Upper Second-Class Honours (2:1) and the proportion of white British students.

In 2012/13, only 57.1% of UK-domiciled BME students gained a 2:1 or above, compared with 73.2% of white British students – a gap of 16.1% (Equality Challenge Unit, 2017).

Research shows that the attainment gap differs significantly among students from different minority ethnic groups. For example, in 2012/13:

  • 64.4% of Indian students were awarded a top degree (a degree attainment gap of 8.8%)
  • 63.9% of Chinese students (a gap of 9.3%)
  • 54.2% of Pakistani students (a gap of 19.0%)
  • 43.8% of Black Other students (a gap of 29.4%)

(Equality Challenge Unit, 2017).

Publications

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1

Improving the degree attainment of black and minority ethnic students

Equality Challenge Unit

A commentary on how to support BME students to achieve better degrees, includes different institutional approaches

2

Ethnicity and Degree Attainment

Department for Education and Skills, 2007.

A study of 65,000 HE students in 2007 showed that after controlling for many variables for some students 'being from a minority ethnic community is still statistically significant in explaining final attainment'.

Resources

NB When you click on View, you may be directed to a webpage with two links: please click on the link which takes you to the publication you are looking for.

1

Practical Receipes for Student Success (PReSS)

Chester University

A teaching and learning toolkit to support students with building their academic study skills.

2

Re-thinking belonging

Derby University

Dr Nicholas Bowskill considers why a sense of belonging is a key indicator for student retention