Risks to equality of opportunity

The University identified risks to equality of opportunity by completing an assessment of performance using the Office for Students (OfS) APP data dashboard, the OfS Equality of Opportunity Risk Register (EORR), UCAS end of cycle data, the University’s own internal data sources, and the priorities set by the Derby and Derbyshire Priority PEIA Boards. The University’s assessment of performance is set out in Appendix A.

The University’s key indications of risk were mapped against the OfS EORR to help inform the development of the intervention strategies set out in Section 4:

Indication of Risk 1: Derby City and Derbyshire are areas where pupil outcomes at the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) and Key Stage 4 (KS4) are amongst the lowest in England with sustained underperformance at both Primary and Secondary level.

• Evidence (see appendix B) and experience from previous work across the local education environment and with the PEIA Board demonstrates that this indication of risk relates to OfS EORR risks 1, 2, and 3.  

Indication of Risk 2: Black students are less likely to be offered a place on courses than students from other ethnic groups.

• Whilst it is recognised that further detailed evaluation into the reasons underpinning this risk is required, at first view, this indication of risk relates to OfS EORR risk 4.

Indication of Risk 3: Students of colour, students who disclose a mental health condition and students who previously received free school meals are less likely to continue their studies after year one.

Indication of Risk 4: Students of colour and students who previously received free school meals are less likely to be awarded a First-Class (1^st) or Upper Second-Class (2:1) degree.

• There is a high degree of intersectionality between these indications of risk and across several of the risks contained within the OfS EORR. For example, OfS EORR risk 8 impacts most evidently on students with a mental health condition, although maybe an aggravating factor impacting upon the success of other students when co-existing with financial pressures (OfS EORR risk 10) or insufficient of personal support (OfS EORR risk 7). The University’s approaches acknowledge this complexity and the whole provider approach set out in Section 5 seeks to address each of the on-course risks (OfS EORR risks 6-11).

Indication of Risk 5: Asian students are less likely to progress to highly skilled employment or further higher-level study after they complete their studies.

• Whilst to some extent co-dependent upon OfS EORR risk 11, this indication of risk most closely maps to OfS EORR risk 12.