POLAR
28 . One of the original aims of Uni Connect was raising higher education participation of young people from underrepresented groups , as measured by Participation of Local Areas ( POLAR3 ). 22 POLAR classifies local areas into five groups – or quintiles – based on the proportion of young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19 years-old . Quintile one includes areas with the lowest rates of participation , while quintile five includes areas with the highest rates of participation .
29 . POLAR3 was the most up-to-date area-based measure of young participation when the Uni Connect programme was launched in 2017 , so increasing the participation rate of POLAR3 quintile 1 areas ( relative to quintile 5 ) was the agreed aim of the programme and the measure used in this analysis .
Application outcomes
30 . In this report we consider five ‘ application outcomes ’ measuring success in getting into higher education . They all relate to 18-year-old applicants applying to full-time undergraduate courses through UCAS .
31 . Young participation is defined as entering higher education by the age of 19 . It is normally measured using administrative data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency ( HESA ) and the Individualised Learner Record ( ILR ). However , this data is not available for more than a year after each cohort could have entered higher education aged 19 , which means it is significantly lagged . 23
32 . Instead , linked NPD and UCAS data for 18-year-old applicants allows us to take an earlier view of application outcomes than is otherwise possible using higher education participation data . The UCAS data available for this analysis covered application cycles from 2012 to 2021 .
Application outcomes for the Key Stage 4 population :
Application rates : The proportion of the Key Stage 4 population that apply to higher education through UCAS ( calculated by dividing the number of applicants by the number of learners in the Key Stage 4 population ).
High tariff application rates : The proportion of the Key Stage 4 population that apply through UCAS to selective higher education providers – those with high average ‘ tariff scores ’
22
See www . officeforstudents . org . uk / data-and-analysis / young-participation-by-area / about-polar-and-adulthe /.
23
In Annex C , we analyse the available higher education data , which although more lagged , covers alternative routes of entry which cannot be seen in the UCAS data , including part-time study and entry by age 19 .
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