Call for evidence – risks to equality of opportunity

This call for evidence closed on 23 December 2022.

As part of a proposed new approach to regulating equality of opportunity, the Office for Students (OfS) intend to publish a sector-wide equality of opportunity risk register (EORR) which will identify key sector-level risks to equality of opportunity in higher education and highlight which student groups are most affected by each one.

TASO is undertaking a rapid evidence review to identify key risks to equality of opportunity in higher education and inform the development of the EORR.

What is a risk to equality of opportunity?

A risk to equality of opportunity occurs when an individual, because of circumstances that the individual did not choose, may have their choices about the nature and direction of their life reduced by the actions or inactions of another individual, organisation or system.

The OfS propose that the EORR would include the following information:

• The identified risk to equality of opportunity.
• An objective associated with the risk to equality of opportunity which indicates that it is an OfS equality objective.
• The students to whom the risk relates.
• The evidence used to identify the risk and an assessment of impact.

How will TASO help support the development of the EORR?

The OfS have proposed that the risks set out in the EORR are identified using the following data and evidence sources:

• The OfS access and participation data dashboard.
• Other OfS data sources.
• Any other relevant, reliable provider or sector-level data or evidence related to equality of opportunity for students.

TASO will undertake a rapid evidence review to contribute to the third source of evidence in this list.

What evidence are TASO seeking?

TASO are seeking research evidence and high-quality reports on quantitative differences in outcomes between groups of students. We are seeking evidence which describes the gaps in outcomes, rather than impact evaluation evidence (which seeks to identify the most effective approaches to addressing these gaps).

We are focusing across the student lifecycle, including:

Pre-entry to higher education

• Pre-16 differences in attainment, subject choice, measurable gaps in aspirations/expectations/knowledge
• Post-16 differences in attainment, subject choice, measurable gaps in aspirations/expectations/knowledge and actual entry to higher education

Post-entry to higher education

• Differences in continuation rates
• Differences in on-course success and degree awarding outcomes
• Differences in post-higher education outcomes, including:
  
  ○ Labour market outcomes
  
  ○ Entry to PG education
  
  ○ Entry to specific careers (for example, Artificial Intelligence)

Broader context

• How the broader context can affect outcomes for students, for example, the impact of the COVID pandemic or the cost of living crisis.

As this is a highly focused rapid evidence review, we are particularly seeking:

• Evidence which presents descriptive quantitative analysis of measurable differences in outcomes, rather than qualitative literature on risks.
• Evidence which relates to differences in outcomes at a national/sector-level (or across multiple providers), which can help us understand risks which emerge at a national level; while we welcome evidence generated at the level of individual providers, if it is included in the review we will primarily use this to contextualise the risk at the national level.

We seek evidence which relates to a wide range of student groups, including but not limited to those listed below. These categories were developed as part of a sector consultation exercise run by TASO to determine a long-list of potential target groups for access and participation work.

• Black, Asian and minority ethnic learners
• Care-experienced learners (and other learners with experience of social care)
• Learners from deprived areas
• Disabled learners (not including mental health)
• Estranged learners
• Gypsy Roma and Traveller (GRT) learners
• Learners with a mental health condition
• Learners with a criminal record
• LGBTQ+ learners
• Local and Commuter students
• Part time/ flexible students
• Refugees
• Socioeconomically disadvantaged learners (e.g. first generation higher education, FSM-eligible, low participation neighbourhoods)
• Learners from Military Families
• Vocational learners, including BTEC students and apprentices