Methodology section of this report ), the changes in higher education participation presented cannot be attributed to the Uni Connect programme alone .
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 .
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 ’ ( calculated by dividing the number of applicants with at least one application to a high tariff provider by the number of learners in the Key Stage 4 population ). 4
Placed rates : The proportion of the Key Stage 4 population accepted to start higher education ( calculated by dividing the number of accepted applicants by the number of learners in the Key Stage 4 population ).
Application outcomes for the applicant population :
Offer rates : The proportion of applicants that receive at least one offer by 30 June or were recorded as being accepted by the end of the cycle ( calculated by dividing the number of applicants that receive at least one offer by the total number of applicants ).
Acceptance rates : The proportion of applicants that are accepted to start higher education by the end of the cycle ( calculated by dividing the number of accepted applicants by the total number of applicants ).
Findings
6 . Our analysis finds that for learners attending state-funded mainstream schools and colleges in England who were 16-years-old at the end of their Key Stage 4 academic year :
a . The gap in application rates between areas with the highest and lowest participation rates has increased since the Uni Connect programme launched , rising from 27.8 percentage points in 2016 , to 27.9 percentage points in 2020 , before increasing more substantially to 29.6 percentage points in 2021 . During this period , application rates grew in every year for both groups , but the increase in application rates among learners from areas with the highest participation rates outpaced that of learners from areas with the lowest participation rates . Both the 2020 and 2021 application cycles were affected by changes in teaching , assessment , and delivery of outreach activity caused by the
4
See the OfS Key Performance Measure 2 for more information on how high tariff providers are defined : www . officeforstudents . org . uk / about / measures-of-our-success / participation-performance-measures / gap-inparticipation-at-higher-tariff-providers-between-the-most-and-least-represented-groups /.
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