‘New phase’ needed to meet Scottish participation targets

Scotland needs to “up the ante” if it is to achieve its goals on widening participation, according to its Commissioner for Fair Access.

While Scottish universities have increased their share of disadvantaged students in recent years, John McKendrick has warned they may miss a target set for this year to ensure “at least” 18 per cent of first-degree entrants come from the 20 per cent most deprived backgrounds in the country.

The latest figures from the Scottish Funding Council show the proportion stood at 16.7 per cent of entrants in 2023-24, although more recent data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency suggests that this has now risen to 17.4 per cent.

Scotland wants to increase its target further still before the end of the decade, aiming for 20 per cent of disadvantaged students by 2030.

Writing in the second annual report he has produced since taking on the role, McKendrick says a “new phase” is needed to achieve the goals, including setting individual institutional targets for access and participation, and considering expanding the scope of the commissioner for all tertiary education to meet targets.

“I understand that some may retort that the time is not right, making reference to the challenging financial circumstances with which the tertiary sector is grappling, or the fact that we already have an ambition for fair access and should be focusing all our attention on achieving this. I do not accept either as a valid reason for being less ambitious,” writes McKendrick, a professor at Glasgow Caledonian University.

The report highlights how five institutions reported their highest ever proportion of disadvantaged entrants in 2023-24, with a further six institutions reporting their highest ever proportion outside of the pandemic years, which saw an uptick in widening participation applicants.

However, the rate of progress has stalled, and the share of entrants from deprived areas is currently the same as it was three years ago in 2020-21.

It says the ways in which success is measured need to be strengthened and the data to evidence this must be improved.

The report therefore welcomes plans to introduce tailored institutional participation targets from 2026-27, rather than requiring universities to meet a blanket 10 per cent target for the whole sector. These are calculated based on an institution’s highest access rates achieved outside of the pandemic years.

For example, for 2026-27, Robert Gordon University will aspire to exceed its record of 7.2 per cent of disadvantaged students who began their studies in the 2023-24 academic year. In comparison, the University of Glasgow, which always exceeded the previous 10 per cent target, will now be asked to exceed its record of 16.1 per cent of entrants, also achieved in 2023-34.

“This is a significant development, which reinforces the commitment of the sector to fair access, demonstrates the willingness of the sector to be challenged to achieve more, and indicates that the Scottish Government is open to shifting focus, where such pivots strengthen the commitment to achieve the fair access goals,” McKendrick writes.

He adds that the government should “consider strengthening the remit of the Commissioner for Fair Access to assume responsibility for advising on fair access to the whole of tertiary education”. 

While he acknowledged the government has previously rejected this, he writes “it will remain a recommendation” as “it is my firm belief that the future of fair access should adopt a tertiary perspective”.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com