Progression Data

Progression to University of Derby from Widening Access target schools in September 2022

508 students applied to the University from target schools, of which 133 went on to enrol.  

The conversion rate for applications to enrolments is 26% (23% in 2021), significantly higher than the University as a whole (14%). This shows excellent engagement with the University from applicants at target schools. This is the pattern we expect to see due to their engagement in our comprehensive outreach programmes.  

Socio-economic and demographic breakdown of enrolling students from target schools 

Table 1:  September 2022 enrolments by gender  

Table 2: September 2022 enrolments by ethnicity  

Table 3: Progression of students from disadvantaged backgrounds (IMD)

Table 4: Comparison between target schools and colleges and whole University enrolments by IMD quintile

Analysis of applications and enrolments from target schools for 2021/22 shows a clear impact of the work of the Widening Access team including: 

• Higher than expected interest in the University, evidenced through the high rate of conversion from applicant to enrolment;  
• High enrolment from Asian students; 
• Significantly higher than expected levels of engagement and progression from students in the IMD quintile 1 area.  

The analysis, however, also highlights the need to sharpen our focus and build on access work with two key groups, as we can see: 

• Lower than expected levels of engagement and progression from male students; 
• Lower than expected levels of engagement and progression from black students, which is also coupled with significant gaps in continuation, attainment, and outcomes at HE level for black students in comparison to white students. 

Progression to HE from those who have engaged in Widening Access outreach

EMWPREP (East Midlands Widening Participation Research and Evaluation Partnership) is a partnership of higher education institutions that work together to contribute to a tracking database. The EMWPREP team works with HESA on behalf of the partnership to provide data on the long-term progression and graduate outcomes of those who have engaged in outreach activity. We are provided with an annual report from EMWPREP of the outcomes for those who have engaged specifically with University outreach activity.  

From this we can see that: 

• Of 9,025 trackable learners who had engaged in UoD outreach activity and became ‘HE ready’ (ie 18 and 19 years of age) up to and including 2020/21, 48% have entered higher education.  

• Of these learners, 5,590 (62%) were from the lowest POLAR quintiles (the least likely to progress to HE). From this grouping, 43% have progressed to HE at age 18 or 19. It isn’t an exact comparison, due to our learners coming from cohorts over a number of years, but to give context, in 2020/21 progression to HE from the lowest POLAR quintiles was 33%, and so we see far higher progression rates than would normally be expected. 

• Of the 9,025 learners, there is a clear pattern of higher progression to HE when learners engage in multiple activities. 46% of learners who engaged in one activity progressed to HE, compared to 56% for those engaging in 3 or more activities. This provides good evidence to support the long-term, progressive programmes approach to outreach which we employ. 

• Of the 585 learners who have now graduated and who are also from the lowest POLAR quintiles 75% have achieved a good degree. This compares with 73% nationally, and 74% for the whole University population, again illustrating a long-term positive impact for those engaging with UoD outreach programmes.