P U B L I C B E N E F I T S TAT E M E N T
The University also uses contextual data in its admissions policy. A growing body of evidence suggests that students from poorly performing schools achieve better degree results than similarly-qualified peers from high performing schools. Such contextual data is employed by the University to identify a cohort of students with potential to succeed – although their qualifications on entry might be slightly lower than others.
Outreach activity sees trained Exeter student ambassadors and staff going out to schools to help raise the aspirations of students from under-represented groups and to improve their awareness of higher education. Students from target schools are invited to attend a range of on-campus activities covering a variety of subject areas throughout the year. The University is also engaged in two innovative fair access schemes with partners:
Applicants are therefore considered for offers at one grade below the norm (although still within published boundaries), with the expectation that they will close or overcome the achievement gap during their time at the University.
• Realising Opportunities is a national pilot involving 12 research-intensive universities who have agreed to operate a national ‘compact’. A compact scheme ensures that progression to a partner university is encouraged by making offers to participating students below the normal entry requirements (provided a student completes the programme). Only students from disadvantaged backgrounds are invited to participate in the programme and in order to be eligible, students have to be academically able, have achieved a specified level of GCSE attainment, come from the public care system and/or satisfy certain income criteria. Often, outreach is conducted locally and then students can choose to apply for higher education study in another part of the country entirely. • Sutton Trust Academic Routes (STAR) takes a different approach and aims to identify bright young students from disadvantaged backgrounds at an earlier age and then offer them guaranteed entry to the University of Exeter, provided they meet certain academic and project-specific conditions along the way. Eligibility for the STAR programme is dependent on academic ability, being on track for a specified level of GCSE attainment, coming from the public care system and/or living in a postcode identified as having high levels of deprivation. The STAR programme involves 60 students from eight local schools and works with students pre-GCSE in Year 11 through to their application to university in Year 13.
The University of Exeter is well placed to build on its history of widening participation activity and relishes the opportunities to further increase its activities in this area. The University recognises its role as a vehicle for social mobility and will seek to ensure that fair access is guaranteed to all applicants, regardless of background, in collaboration with local, regional and national partners. RESEARCH The University seeks to undertake research which has a distinctive and measurable impact on society. There is a focus on translational research so that discoveries are used for the benefit of society. Working with business and other funders of research is fundamental to this approach. The University in recent years having trebled the size of its on-campus Innovation Centre, which provides business units for small high tech companies, is now working with a range of partners to establish the city of Exeter’s first science park. Exeter researchers are making major contributions to our understanding of diabetes, creating new ways of testing for malaria, combating the world’s biggest killer of rice crops; discovering genes responsible for height and obesity; measuring the impact of workspace design on workers’ health; assessing the effects of nitrates on athletes’ stamina, promoting the benefits of exercise in combating nicotine addiction; identifying the link between vitamin D deficiency and cognitive decline in the elderly; finding links between a stain repellent chemical and possible thyroid problems; and measuring the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in rivers.
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REVIEW OF YEAR
This provision represented 5.9% of gross tuition fee income and over 13% of Home/EU undergraduate fee income. Bursaries are publicised and paid at £1,500 pa for students with a household income below £25,000 and £750 pa for students with a household income between £25,001 and £35,000. A total of 2,922 students received means tested support in 2010/11, representing 30% of Home/EU undergraduate students.