Report 98/49

Good practice in non award-bearing continuing education

The electronic version of this publication contains the Contents and introductory text only. The complete printed document including the case studies is available from the HEFCE, price £15.

Contents

Widening participation in higher education

The case for widening participation

1. Concern to expand participation in higher education (HE) has a long history. Over the last 150 years, the desire to increase the number, or change the nature, of participants has led to the foundation in turn of the civic universities, of the extramural and adult education departments, of the post-war universities, the polytechnics, and The Open University. Most recently it has produced the rapid expansion of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the creation of access courses and open college networks (OCNs).

2. However, the National Inquiry into Higher Education reported in 1997 that British higher education still systematically fails to recruit from sizeable groups of the population. Expansion since the mid-1980s has increased numbers primarily from the same groups, and done relatively little to broaden the range of people who participate. An individual's chances of benefiting from higher education still reflect, to a disproportionate degree, social class, geography, ethnic origin, disability, and age.

3. This is despite the evidence, from those institutions which have widened access to non-participant groups and communities, that substantial numbers of people are excluded, not because of inability to benefit, but by social factors and by the inflexibility of provision.

4. The Learning Age (1998), the Government's Green Paper on lifelong learning, argues the case for change on grounds both of economic competitiveness and of equity, and stresses the linkage between the two. If participation in education concentrates social and economic benefits, rather than distributing them more widely, its effect is to deepen the exclusion of some groups. In so far as public expenditure is thus being used to distribute additional life chances to the already privileged, this is questionable on ethical grounds. Furthermore, in a high-skills economy this represents a wasteful under use of human resource, and is likely to lead to increased public costs in welfare benefits.

The challenges to higher education

5. It is more difficult to widen participation than to expand it. The benefits of higher education are not self-evident to many non-participants, and many are not in a position to take it up in the forms in which it is currently offered. Barriers of time, place, mode and learner support remain, while the content of programmes, and systems of accreditation are often ill matched to the needs of potential learners, communities and firms. Some who could benefit need help to cross the threshold, and expanding access may be actively unhelpful if there are not appropriate systems to secure progression and retention.

6. Addressing these issues calls for change both in public perceptions of HE, and in institutional

practices and the curriculum, and for a recognition that different groups require different responses: a single model of provision will inevitably be inappropriate for some who could benefit. It is also worth noting that, in many cases, strategies to overcome these problems for non-traditional learners will help all learners.

7. In considering the way forward, higher education faces two challenges. The first is to define the unique contribution that HE, as distinct from other agencies and sectors, can make, to widening participation and to the broader social policy agenda which it addresses. The second is to find a balance between root and branch change, which might transform the mainstream of higher education at the expense of its traditional mission, and the development of parallel systems, which would give non-traditional learners access, but only to an alternative higher education. Widening participation in a diverse HE must not mean access only to a second-class system, nor must it mean undermining the quality of teaching, scholarship and research.

8. The case studies in this volume demonstrate some of the complexities of these issues in practice, and offer some evidence for the ongoing debate about how the challenges can be addressed.

The projects and case studies

The project's origins

9. In 1995 the Council invited HE institutions to bid competitively for four-year project funding for Non-Award Bearing Higher Education. Funds were offered for work in two strands: Widening Participation and Liberal Adult Education. In all, 20 of the 64 Liberal Adult Education (In Circular 4/95 'Funds for Non-Award Bearing Higher Education (NABCE). Brief details of all the projects can be found in the Council's Interim Report (Report 2/97 NABCE Funded Projects 1995-1999) which outlines the range of activity and offers brief project descriptions.) bids were successful, and 46 of the 92 Widening Participation ones were also selected. At the end of the third year of funding, all the Widening Participation projects were invited to submit case studies for the present volume, and 38 did so.

10. Much has changed since the programme was conceived, and in reading these case studies it is important to remember three contextual issues. Firstly, in 1995 the merging of the funding mechanisms of the former university and polytechnic sectors following the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act was incomplete. There was still turbulence arising from the 'mainstreaming' of programmes which had, in the pre-1992 universities been supported by separate funds (Non-Award Bearing Continuing Education (NABCE) funding was itself a residue from these changes).

11. Secondly, it was then more common to draw a sharp distinction between 'access' to higher education and 'lifetime learning'. The former was seen as largely concerned with widening participation by reaching new groups of young people and traditional second-chance 'access' students; the latter with the development of new qualifications and delivery systems to engage adults, particularly the employed workforce, in higher level training. The Widening Participation initiative was mainly directed at the former. Circular 4/95 identifies 'for example: student support, both academic and personal; outreach and community work; compact schemes and associate student schemes' as relevant fundable activities.

12. Thirdly, the policy climate has changed dramatically. Since the programme was commissioned, there have been major reports on 'lifetime' and 'lifelong' learning from two Governments, and from the Dearing, Kennedy and Fryer Committees. They reflect an increased concern in the policy community with widening participation in education, and with the role of education in fostering both economic success and social inclusion. In 1995, the Widening Participation initiative was a small project programme, not seen as central to their mission by many HE institutions. In 1998, the issues it addresses are at the centre of the Government's policy agenda, although for HE institutions this must compete for attention with issues of funding, research and quality.

13. The projects' experience is therefore of growing interest to the higher education community and to a wider audience. Since policymakers, practitioners and institutional managers are interested in what has been learned, the Council asked NIACE, which had been commissioned to evaluate the programme, to prepare a set of case studies to describe the experience to date, and to identify common themes and issues of interest to others. This volume is the result.

14. All projects were invited to contribute, and the projects themselves have selected the examples of what they see as successful practice, or work which has lessons for others. The case studies have been written by the project staff, and reflect the diversity of their voices and concerns.

The limits of the case studies

15. Widening participation is a complex issue. Strategies which work with one target group may be quite inappropriate to another, while institutional contexts and structures vary greatly. The traditions and cultures of the pre-1992 universities are very distinct from those of the former polytechnics, and each had its own ways of addressing participation issues. The former often concentrated this kind of work in a separate department of continuing or adult education, while the latter usually spread it more widely throughout the institution. As a result, far more staff have been involved with non-traditional entrants in some institutions than others. However, as the cases demonstrate, the pattern is much more complex than a simple division into 'old' and 'new' university models.

16. Institutions themselves differ in their experience of widening participation. A project which is novel for one may be conventional for another, and the projects map into the institutions in different ways. The widely varying scale of funding (from £10,000 to £180,000 a year) and the success of projects in raising funds from other sources must also bear on the scope of the activity.

17. Finally, this is not a full account of the current state of work on widening participation in higher education in England, or in any individual institution. The case studies mainly describe one part of a project, which is itself only a part of the work of that institution. To see the broader picture, one would need also to look at similar work funded from other sources within HE, at work on lifelong learning, and professional and vocational education, at partnerships with further education (FE) institutions and the voluntary sector, work-based learning, and liberal adult education. All of these are contributing to a complex and changing scene. The present projects represent one important element of that scene.

The case studies

18. While some of the larger projects have sought to achieve institution-wide change, most have narrower objectives, aimed at particular groups or communities. Most of the case studies consider only one part of the work of the particular project.

19. The cases are presented in seven broad (and overlapping) groups:

Target groups Projects which aimed at widening participation from very specific groups - such as the disabled, or older learners, or members of specific ethnic groups.

Specific subjects Projects which aimed at widening participation in specific subject areas, specifically mathematics and science where non-traditional students are particularly difficult to recruit and retain.

Guidance Projects which aimed to improve information, advice and guidance to people either before entry, or when on their course.

Progression Projects which sought to create new progression routes or improve old ones, through initiatives like summer schools, taster programmes, induction and bridging courses.

Community groups Projects where the HE institution sought to work in partnership with community-based organisations.

Uses of technology Projects which set out to widen participation specifically through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Multiple strategies Mostly large projects which sought to address a range of target groups and issues, including change within the HE institution.

20. Each section is preceded by a short commentary, identifying particular themes and issues worth noting. Although all are targeted at wider participation, the case studies describe a wide diversity of activity and to reflect this they have not been edited into a common format.

Themes and issues

21. The case studies raise a host of issues. Some, such as partnership, guidance and needs analysis, appear in most cases; others are relevant to projects of a particular kind; while some occur only in one or two examples. Here we comment on some of the common themes, clustered under four broad headings:

The university and its communities: perceptions of HE, partnership and community development.

Learners and potential learners: target groups, the roles played by students.

Curriculum: trying out HE, crossing thresholds, continuing support, specific subjects.

Institutional structures and processes: flexibility, credit, staffing, funding, research.

22. Appendix 1 provides a guide to the specific topics touched on by each case study.

The university and its communities

Partnership

23. Perhaps the strongest common theme of the case studies is partnership. There is clear evidence that much of the work needed to widen participation can only be effectively organised on a partnership basis. Partnership with voluntary agencies in particular can give the HE institution access to groups and communities which would otherwise be inaccessible or suspicious, and half of all the case studies involve partnership with such agencies. In addition, 11 other kinds of partner were identified, from supplementary schools (Westminster College, Oxford), Business Links and Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) (Universities of Hertfordshire and Newcastle upon Tyne), FE colleges, local authority departments and information technology (IT) companies.

24. Many of the comments on partnership stress continuity and trust. Several case studies refer to the reluctance of groups to become involved with 'another scheme', with research that leads to no action, or to an initiative whose funding runs out prematurely. This has implications for funding and staffing and, as the studies from Sheffield Hallam and Thames Valley Universities (among others) argue, points to the importance of establishing long-term institutional commitment expressed through formal mission statements, and through ongoing demonstration in practice.

Changing perceptions of higher education

25. This work can, however, deliver a range of benefits, and a number of the studies report that partnerships have raised the profile of the university in its region. It is clear that the public perception of universities, especially perhaps among those in non-participant communities, has not kept pace with the reality during the last 10 years. The message reported is still that 'universities (if not HE generally) are not for us'. However, a number of case studies report that working closely with beneficiary groups has changed their perception of the university, and this is one of the most prominent successes reported by projects in the evaluation survey conducted by NIACE in spring 1998. Over time (and these studies were written towards the end of the third year of the four-year projects), the university can come to be seen as a natural provider of support to communities, and progression for their members. In some cases this can lead to the university taking a pivotal role in local and regional development initiatives, with spin-off benefits for its other work in the region.

26. A few of the projects comment on use of the media, both local and national, to promote new images of higher education. The Universities of East Anglia and Newcastle upon Tyne offer interesting examples, and Bolton Institute of Higher Education points to the value of such coverage in generating additional funding for the work.

Community development and regeneration

27. One striking aspect of the partnership work is the use of community development approaches. The Universities of Leeds, Leicester and Ulster, and Westminster College, Oxford all describe programmes designed to empower community activists. In some cases this is linked to formal accreditation, so that the skills base on which the local community can be regenerated is strengthened at the same time as the workers in voluntary organisations participate in higher education. Such approaches strengthen the credibility of the university among the communities affected; the University of Bradford's fast-track access course for community workers is an interesting example. Sheffield Hallam University, on the other hand, offers programmes in community based research to members of local groups and, like the University of Birmingham, offers IT training to increase the capacity of such groups to serve their communities.

28. Several projects support the needs of particular communities through a negotiated curriculum. Lancaster and North London Universities both offer a common curriculum negotiated individually with each community participating. The University of North London links this to capacity-building workshops to enable groups to support the ongoing learning of their members and communities.

29. A small group of projects tackle the difficult problem of higher education in rural communities, which raises issues of scale and lack of infrastructure. All have sought, in varying degrees, to use information and communication technologies to overcome some of the traditional access problems of time and distance. The University of Wolverhampton has established 'electronic village halls' connected to its Rural Broadnet, while the University of Hull's 'university of the moors' project uses ICTs on a mobile basis. The University of Exeter took advantage of a developing infrastructure of local centres, being developed with European funding throughout the South West. All three demonstrate that ICTs have real potential, but that they are not panaceas, and that development in rural communities may require even longer time scales than elsewhere.

Learners and potential learners

Target groups

30. The programme aimed to widen participation from groups and communities previously excluded from higher education. However, this is in no sense a homogeneous population, and effective responses need careful tailoring to particular needs and circumstances. All case studies identify some specific targets (23 distinct groups in all), excluded on the grounds of social class, age, ethnicity, gender, location, disability, employment circumstances, citizenship status or specific learning difficulty. Several of the studies also comment on the broad underlying issues of poverty, low aspirations, low levels of confidence and expectation, and lack of role models.

31. Some case studies concentrate on a single group. Coventry University focuses on older learners, the Universities of Hull and Wolverhampton on rural communities, the University of the West of England, Bristol on working-class men and boys. Half of all studies look specifically at ethnic minorities (notably Bradford, Leicester, South Bank and Thames Valley Universities, and Edge Hill College of Higher Education). The Universities of Hertfordshire and Ulster are among the many which address women as a group, but most of these do so in relation to some other form of exclusion: women and technology (Bolton Institute of Higher Education), women's health (University of Kent at Canterbury), or women from ethnic communities (Lancaster University). Among the five projects targeted at learners whose first language is not English, a notable example is South Bank University's work with community interpreters. Thames Valley University also tackled second-language learners. Both projects chose to treat the language skills of their students not as a problem, but as an opportunity. Westminster College, Oxford sought to use its mainstream curricular focus as a church foundation to provide a basis for outreach work through the membership of black churches.

32. In addition to these common categories, addressed by several case studies, a number of particular groups are identified by individual projects. They include drug users and AIDS sufferers (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), asylum seekers (University of Kent at Canterbury), and shift workers (Thames Valley University). The University of Nottingham is one of a very few with an explicit focus on disability, including hearing impairment, physical disability and dyslexia.

Student roles

33. One very striking aspect of many of the case studies is the imaginative way in which projects use students. They are frequently used in the promotion of HE to non-participant communities, as at Edge Hill College of Higher Education which sends current undergraduates into local schools to talk about HE, or in the 'student ambassadors' scheme at the University of the West of England, Bristol. Thames Valley University has used students extensively to research community needs. Student mentoring is a major feature of the University of Derby's project, where it has been formalised with an accredited training programme, which gives the work status, and enables undergraduates to earn credit. The University of Northumbria at Newcastle's student shadowing scheme pairs current students with potential ones, who accompany them to experience the course at first hand. This has impressive results, both in raised confidence and ongoing relationships.

34. In addition to using students as mentors and ambassadors, some projects seek actively to encourage the development of mutual support structures among enrolled students. Queen Mary and Westfield College has created mutual support structures among the students on its bridging courses, so that they can continue to support each other as they progress through HE; similar structures occur in other projects, aimed at overcoming isolation and potential drop-out.

Curriculum

35. There are many ways in which the traditional HE curriculum can be adapted to the needs of non-traditional learners. Some involve overcoming entry barriers, others involve course support or course design.

36. One-third of case studies describe taster or pre-entry programmes, providing individuals with an opportunity (from a few hours to a few weeks) to experience a little of higher education without a large initial commitment. The University of Teesside's 'Summer College' is one of seven projects which have done this during the summer, when institutions are less crowded and intimidating. The University of Bradford uses a similar strategy in its 'Junior University', which meets at weekends, and is specifically for school-age young people from minority communities. while Thames Valley University's 'Slough Summer University' includes a celebratory award ceremony, which brings parents and other community members into the university at the end of the summer, many of them crossing the threshold of an HE institution for the first time. Six projects have experimented with family or inter-generational learning approaches, aimed at contributing both to individual learning and to building mutual support for learners within family groups (University of Leeds, University of North London, Sheffield Hallam University).

37. Four cases describe 'associate student schemes', which give individuals access to some of the facilities of the university. At South Bank University and Queen Mary and Westfield College, they have access to study facilities and support, while Coventry University's 'Listener' scheme allows older learners to attend lectures from the university's mainstream programmes. The University of Nottingham similarly provides opportunities for individual learners to try out interests on a modest scale.

38. Once persuaded to commit themselves to higher education, individuals may still need help to cross the threshold, either with specific skills or confidence building. The University of Northumbria at Newcastle has one of several studies describing bridging and induction programmes, which provide additional support for non-traditional learners at this point. The University of Derby and Leeds Metropolitan University have created formal compact arrangements under which institutions offer preferential access of some kind to those individuals who complete a prearranged programme of work.

39. Access to the university for non-traditional learners is only the first step, and a further group of studies describe strategies for supporting students once they have entered, to avoid drop-out and failure. There are 10 that touch on this, including the student support services of the University of Luton and The Nottingham Trent University. In other cases, such as the University of Birmingham, specific posts have been created to provide support to non-traditional learners once enrolled.

40. There are 10 case studies which describe approaches to recruitment in subject areas particularly likely to under recruit non-traditional learners - notably science and engineering. Such strategies aim to overcome prejudices about the subject discipline (University of East Anglia), or to address specific difficulties in understanding or skill (King's College London).

Institutional change

Institutional structures and processes

41. Widening participation calls for change at many levels of an HE institution. Many of the case studies point to the importance of including the issue in institutional mission statements and strategic planning, to give legitimacy to the work of individual staff and to signal commitment to potential partners and the wider community.

42. Several projects established new structures to provide support for individual learners, through access or guidance centres (Luton, Northumbria at Newcastle, Nottingham Trent Universities) or on an outreach basis (Universities of Hull, Wolverhampton). The University of Southampton describes how the widening participation work took advantage of a particular stage of institutional restructuring, while the University of Kent at Canterbury comments on the importance of the timing of development work in the life of the institution. City and Luton Universities both point to the importance of internal structures for networking, which can be as difficult internally as with external partners.

43. Without adequate data collection it is difficult to establish how successful policies for widening participation are. However, collection and analysis of data are problem areas for several projects, which find either that relevant data are not collected by the institution, or that data are not accessible. The University of Northumbria at Newcastle stresses the importance of building appropriate data collection into the mainstream statistical systems of the institution, rather than adding on special monitoring measures. Edge Hill College of Higher Education and Thames Valley University are both undertaking follow-up monitoring to trace the impact of their initiatives, but in general this appears to be one of the weaker areas of the project work.

44. In view of the impact that developments in quality assurance have made on HE institutions in recent years, there is surprisingly little comment on quality issues. Westminster College, Oxford and Sheffield Hallam University are among the few projects which do so, although the Universities of Nottingham and Leeds both comment on the tensions between a quality assurance system designed to examine traditional mainstream undergraduate work, and the particular needs of specific groups.

Credit

45. The absence of appropriate forms of accreditation has always been one of the barriers to participation in higher education for non-traditional learners. This applies to both credit for pre-HE learning and credit for learning within higher education itself. The OCN movement has sought to find ways of accrediting a wide range of kinds of learning, including learning in community contexts, and to negotiate ways of using this credit for entry to HE. Within higher education, the development of credit accumulation and transfer schemes (CATS) has sought to address the wishes of many non-traditional learners to assemble qualifications using modules drawn from different programmes or institutions, or to study discontinuously over a period.

46. Half of the case studies make some reference to credit issues. Seven projects have worked specifically with OCNs to provide credit for learning carried out through the university, but outside that university's own credit frameworks. At the University of Sussex, 400 students have been awarded credit in this way, and 50 of them are using it to progress to certificates in HE. Lancaster University's modular credit scheme uses a credit system to structure a programme negotiated with local groups, and is negotiating its accreditation through the local OCN. Others have used the university's own systems to accredit new programmes. The University of Bradford has accredited a range of programmes designed to empower local communities, including transcultural counselling, equal opportunities and anti-discrimination courses. The University of Birmingham is planning to accredit training in mentoring for voluntary sector managers.

47. One approach which might have been expected to figure in the cases is the accreditation of prior (experiential) learning (AP(E)L), which has been widely promoted as a means of recognising the learning which many mature students bring with them, despite their lack of formal certification. However, for only a few projects was this a major element of the work.

Staffing

48. Several projects discuss staffing issues, both in relation to the projects themselves and to staff skills and attitudes more widely. Since the case studies are all drawn from projects funded on a short-term basis, they naturally reflect the strengths and weaknesses of this as a model. Most report the successful use of project staff, in some cases seconded to undertake a short-term development which is then to be mainstreamed, in others, appointees with relevant specialist experience on temporary contracts. However, the implication of staffing arrangements for the internal status and credibility of the work is an issue. Short-term budgetary allocation and temporary staffing mark out low-priority work. Furthermore, the horizons of temporary staff can be limited by the project time scales and priorities. The University of Sussex is one of the institutions pointing to the need to ensure that project managers can provide a broader context, good links into institutional structures and a good understanding of institutional processes. The University of Southampton offers an alternative approach, using part-time secondment of existing staff as a way of embedding development in the institution.

49. Any change in higher education depends on the support of academic staff, and many studies comment on issues of staff attitude and staff development. The Nottingham Trent University stresses the need to raise staff awareness of the importance of guidance for non-traditional learners, a point reinforced by City University, where this has been formalised as a Diploma in Educational Guidance within the university's masters programme in continuing education. Special staffing issues can arise in working with particular ethnic minorities, as the Universities of Bradford and Leeds both point out. The Bradford project has become actively involved in the under representation of minorities among the university's own staff.

50. Outside the university, Derby and Leeds Metropolitan Universities both stress the importance of school staff attitudes and understanding in helping to overcome cultural barriers for young people.

Funding

51. Funding of development work is often problematic. Some projects have sought actively to use the HEFCE project money to lever funds from other sources, or to combine it with such resources to achieve larger objectives. Brunel University, which had ambitious plans for using technology to individualise its response to the learning needs of individuals and firms, combined its HEFCE money with resources from Europe, TECs and IBM. The University of Ulster combined widening participation work with local economic regeneration to raise funds from Europe. Similarly, the University of Leeds used its widening participation work as the foundation for a consortium with various regional partners, which raised funds from the single regeneration budget (SRB). The partnership which has grown from this provides a valuable network for ongoing consultation and development work.

52. There is a very wide consensus among the studies that the main benefits of this work to the institution accrue over the long term and are not necessarily tied to the field of activity of the project. The widespread view that the work was changing public perceptions of the university is perhaps the most significant of these benefits. This makes it important to ensure that funding processes link closely with institution-wide policy and strategy, which will reassure partners who are suspicious of yet another short-term initiative.

Research

53. One might expect an explicitly higher education intervention into widening participation to include a substantial research dimension. While many studies describe work on needs analysis, this is usually seen as separate from the mainstream research agendas of the institution. There is little evidence that the detail of the project work itself and its impact are being researched, as distinct from reported in terms of project outcomes. Only a few of the studies report any developing synergy between an institutional research strategy and an institutional mission to widen participation at the regional level. Both of these might usefully be explored.

54. Ironically, perhaps, the principal research dimension of the case studies is through innovative uses of students as researchers, as at Thames Valley University, where students have researched the needs of the local community and their local peer groups, or at Sheffield Hallam University, which has provided research support for local community groups.

Conclusion

55. There is frequent evidence in this volume of real success in widening participation in higher education, with benefits for individuals, communities, staff and institutions. If there is one clear message, it is that advances can be made, by dedicated staff working closely with the beneficiary communities. However, achieving this is not quick, or necessarily simple. The case studies repeatedly show that building trust and partnership takes time and resources. However good the model, each local initiative needs to be worked through step by step with the particular target group in the context of the particular institution. Although there is much that practitioners can learn from each other's experience, simply adopting a 'proven' method of delivery will not produce results until each partner is convinced of its benefit and is willing to participate. To be successful such a process requires time, staff commitment and resources, not for one or two years, but over the long term. Furthermore, widening access alone is not sufficient, and the institution has to be prepared to be flexible in its curricular processes if those who have been encouraged are not to leave prematurely.

56. The value of the project funding has been to sponsor diversity and experiment, and to show what can be achieved. Individually, HE institutions have demonstrated their ability to deliver educational opportunity to new constituencies of learners, and have shown that they can play a key role in articulating the work of other agencies in their region to extend participation in learning by the whole community. The challenge now is to take the lessons from this experience into more systematic and robust long-term structures.