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Access and Participation Plan

The higher education regulator, the Office for Students, requires us to set a five-year plan to explain how we are going to improve access, success and progression for underrepresented student groups at University Centre South Devon (UCSD). Nationally students who are underrepresented in higher education are: 

  • students from areas of low participation in higher education, low household income, or low socioeconomic status 
  • students from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds  
  • mature students (those who are aged 21 or over at the start of their course) 
  • disabled students  
  • students who are care leavers 

90% of UCSD students are from at least one of these underrepresented groups so any activities we put in place to support students from underrepresented groups will be available to all students as universal provision. However, we have set ourselves some ambitious targets to close the gaps in access, success and progression between underrepresented groups and their peers at UCSD. The targets run from 2020/21 to 2024/25 and will be monitored by the Office for Students, they are: 

  1. Access: To increase the BAME population to 3.5% by 2024/25 as measured by students’ self-declarations at enrolment. 
  2. Success: To eliminate the 5pp deprivation attainment gap for achieving a 2:1 or above at Level 6 between students from deprivation Quintiles 1 or 2 and Quintiles 3, 4, or 5 by 2024/25. 
  3. Success: To reduce the disabled and non-disabled students attainment gap from 14.3pp to 5pp for achieving a grade of 60% or above at foundation degree by 2024/25.
  4. Success: To reduce the disabled and non-disabled students attainment gap from 27.8pp to 15pp for achieving a 2:1 or above at Level 6 by 2024/25.

More information

For a quick read, here is a summary of the University Centre South Devon access and participation plan or download a full copy of the revised UCSD Access and Participation Plan 2020/21 to 2024/25.

To see how UCSD is putting the plan into action to support students, read the HE academic and professional colleagues guide to the APP.

UCSD Fee Summary 2024-25

Find information published on attainment with reference to gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background on our F1: Transparency information page.

Previous Access and Participation Plans: