BLOG: Working in Partnership to Diversify Our Student Body

By Sara Pittman and Catherine O’Mahony, School and College Outreach Team, The University of Exeter
This blog is part of our NEON Summer Symposium 2024 series. 

As representatives of the University of Exeter, we were delighted to have the opportunity to deliver a paper at the NEON Summer Symposium 2024 on working in partnership to diversify our student body and detail a little about our collaboration with The Elephant Group (TEG)

As outreach officers, we have the opportunity to work with schools across the UK providing students with the tools and information to support their higher education choices. As part of the University of Exeter Access and Participation Plan, we are driven to create a more diverse student community and are achieving this by extending our outreach into areas beyond the South West such as London and Birmingham.  While the University is ethnically diverse, welcoming students from more than 150 different countries from around the world, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students make up a smaller proportion of the UK/EU cohort than the sector and Russell Group averages and this is something we are keen to address.

As a university, we have made consistent progress, exceeding targets relating to socio-economic deprivation, ethnicity and under-representation.  Among our 2022/2023 entrants, 25% were first generation into HE, 22% came from low income households and 45% were from areas of lowest participation in HE. Whilst the figures are encouraging, there is still much to do and this is where we are keen to work closely with The Elephant Group (TEG) and improve the outcome for those students most in need.

In support of current Government initiatives, our ‘Success for All’ campaign is a major strand of our Education Strategy which aims to widen participation, close gaps in student outcomes and build a diverse and inclusive learning environment. The campaign which promotes a collaboration between academics, professional services staff and students encapsulates our collaboration with TEG.

TEG is a headteacher-led charity aiming to support the top third of state school students in progressing to the top third of universities – primarily via their Elephant Access programme for year 12-13 students.   There are currently 55 TEG partner schools in London and the East Midlands and this number has expanded rapidly since the partnership began in 2018/2019 providing our team with a chance to work closely with a number of these schools/colleges

As part of our commitment to TEG, we offer our support at a number of events to support the partnership including the launch events, spring conference and summer residentials.   The partnership supports students’ decision making for post 8 and beyond, provides them with the confidence to explore and apply to selective universities and can broaden horizons through new experiences and independence at the summer residentials.

Along with most universities, we take a data led approach to targeting schools considering factors such as WP markets and attainment and our partnership with TEG enables us to reach a wider audience from a greater diversity of area and background we may not have previously had the opportunity to engage with.

Teachers are notoriously pushed for time and resources and providing opportunities and information is important for us.  Meaningful interactions with top universities mean better information, guidance and choice for those students and ultimately contributes to a more positive outcome for those schools involved.

Bringing this back to a student focus, we are constantly looking at evaluating impact and, as a result, the success or not of our partnerships.  In considering what dictates success, a number of factors must be considered and one can also ask the question – does success equate to opportunities and should this be the main driver for our collaborations.

As a university, success for us is garnered by positive feedback from our student led activities, meeting strategic targets and ultimately increased applications and subsequent firm acceptances from TEG students.  Success for us is also getting closer to our WP goals and strategy targets

For TEG, continuing to provide a strong collaborative partnership allowing increased opportunities for all may represent success.

For the students and schools, we consider other contributory factors, greater access to Russell Group universities, more relevant and accessible information and guidance, greater visibility and achievement and ultimately opportunity represent success for them.

As you would expect, working in collaboration with another professional body will always present some challenges alongside opportunities.  Although we have seen a distinct improvement in applications, there are still barriers to acceptances for students which could vary from distance, cost of living challenges, not enough concession with regards to contextual offers to meet the disparity in opportunity for students in areas of deprivation.

We are continually working to overcome some of these barriers and although there will always be a divergence in motivation and aims, varying schedules and workloads, we are keen to continue our support of TEG and their continued mission to support students.

We are extremely proud to have already seen some very positive statistics as a result of our partnership and we have outlaid some statistics below:

• Between 2019 and 2024, applications to Exeter from TEG schools have increased by 115%
• Offers made to TEG students have increased by 117%
• In 2024, students applied to Exeter from 47 out of 55 TEG schools (85%)
• Following our 2023 TEG summer school:
  • the proportion of students planning to apply to us increased by 42%
  • Students’ confidence in their next steps after 6th form / college increased by 43%
  • 7% of students felt that top/competitive universities were for people like them (up by 13%)

Looking ahead, how can this translate into further opportunities for those students?

We are keen to be part of the expansion of the programme and continue to collaborate closely with TEG and the opportunities they are able to offer students and schools.  We are proud to offer seven UG Degree Apprenticeships at the UofE with plans to further expand our offering.  The Elephant Group is working towards steering students through different pathways and DA will be one we are keen to work together to provide alternative routes into HE.

TEG has ambition plans for expansion and we are keen to be part of that opportunity, resources allowing.  Partnership itself remains an Office for Students priority and although this may be tweaked with the introduction and potential changes to a new Government, we anticipate their values for provision will remain constant.

In terms of TEG work, our aims will remain similar to those already established.  We would like to continue appealing to entrants from state schools and underrepresented backgrounds, including underrepresented ethnic groups​.  This is especially important with some of the outreach work in London.  Provision and opportunity for students remains a top priority and one we will continue to strive for in all our partnerships and collaborations.