Universities must eliminate equality gaps

The Office for Students in the United Kingdom has set itself an ambitious target to achieve equality of opportunity in higher education, and will now expect universities, colleges and other higher education providers to set their own individual plans and targets to work towards these goals over the next five years, reports FE News.

The initiative aims to eliminate gaps in: entry rates at the most selective universities between the most and least represented groups; drop-out rates between the most and least represented groups; degree outcomes between white and black students; and, degree outcomes between disabled and non-disabled students. The targets forms part of the Office for Students’ approach to regulate higher education providers on their work to improve access and participation for disadvantaged students and other underrepresented groups.

Chris Millward, director for fair access and participation at the Office for Students, said: “Our ambition is that future generations should have equal opportunities to access and succeed in higher education, and to achieve successful and rewarding careers.”
Full report on the FE News site