Access and Participation

Completed Research Projects

Royal Bank of Scotland Access Bursary Research

From 2001 to 2004, the Royal Bank of Scotland provided bursaries each worth £4,000 to support first year undergraduate students studying on a full time degree course in five Universities in Scotland namely, the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrews. The Access Bursary scheme entitles 15 new students at each institution each year to receive £1,000 per year of successful study on an undergraduate degree programme, up to a maximum of £4,000. The Access Bursaries were awarded to those students who had an established financial need, or other adverse personal circumstances that made progression through university difficult.

A 39-month evaluation programme began in May 2002 to determine how beneficial the programme had been. The findings suggest that the bursary was extremely beneficial to students in a variety of ways. Most notably, the results show that it helped reduce the number of hours that recipients estimated they would have expected to work per week in the absence of the bursary. From those students who undertook part-time work during term time and those students who, without the bursary, expected to work during term time, an average of six hours per student per week has been 'saved'. Put another way, those students predicted that in the absence of the Royal Bank of Scotland Access Bursary they would have spent six extra hours of their week in employment. Therefore by reducing the amount of time spent in part-time employment, the Royal Bank of Scotland Access Bursary has allowed these students to concentrate more fully on their academic career.

This work was completed by Dr. Beth Christie, to whom we are most grateful.

Sutton Research

The University of Dundee has worked in partnership with the Sutton Trust since 2001. Some of the work completed as part of our partnership is outlined below:

2004

Schools Programme 'Boosting Progression to Higher Education'
This project embedded a 'rolling programme' of events in all three Project schools which has now been introduced to other schools. These activities include: campus visits, interactive workshops and talks. A key feature has been the successful addition of student volunteers to support these activities.

SAT Research 'Using the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) as a Measure of Academic Ability and Progression to Access for Disadvantaged Students'
A third cohort of DUAL Summer School students were testes in June 2004 to determine more accurately the potential of the SAT as a predictive tool for academic achievement at HE level for disadvantaged students. The students academic progress was tracked in their early years of study at the University of Dundee.

Graduate Project 'Developing an 'Alumni Network' of former DUAL Summer School students: creating a foundation for future investigations into the post-university experience of disadvantaged students.'
In order to build upon the momentum created in 2003, an 'Alumni Network' was established through the production of further 'WASC ALumni' newsletters; the development of the WASCAL website; further recruitment of former AS/S students as HE ambassadors; highlighting the success of 10th Anniversary Reunion Event to encourage other AS/S graduates to participate in the network activities; and, finally, the development of further support networks for former AS/S students currently studying at the UoD.

2005

SAT - a longitudinal study: determining how SAT tests correlate to Access and then undergraduate performance.
Data have now been gathered in relation to the predictive ability of the SAT in measuring academic success of DUAL Summer School students. In 2002 the SAT I: Reasoning Test predicted correctly the status of DUAL Summer School students as either achieving academically above or below the class average on the DUAL Summer School in approximately two thirds of cases (63%). The 2003 results found that in just over half of cases (52%), the SAT I: Reasoning Test predicted correctly. In 2005 the academic progress of the sample students was tracked in their early years of study at the University of Dundee. This longitudinal trial aimed to provide a powerful base of evidence on the predictive ability of the SAT in students' ability at HE level and help to demonstrate whether a test such as the SAT would be a valid tool aiding the broadening of access to non-traditional students.

strong>Access Mentoring : Using successful former access students who are now undergraduates to support new access entrants.
One of the outcomes of the Sutton Trust projects has been the desire to create a mechanism by which new students entering the University of Dundee through the DUAL Summer School should be mentored by students in advanced undergraduate studies who have also come through the Access Summer School. Evidence suggested that of the small number of former DUAL Summer School students who do not complete their undergraduate programmes, around 50% fail in the first year of study. This project aided the transition of disadvantaged students, who have entered university through the DUAL Summer School, into their university careers. This was achieved by guiding and supporting students, who often remain vulnerable despite having had a successful DUAL Summer School experience. In the field of Access it is recognised that the disadvantages students begin with are often still factors in their learning, even when they succeed on courses such as the DUAL Summer School. As Tessa Stone of the Sutton Trust noted: 'access issues do not evaporate once on campus'.

This work was completed by Dr. Jennifer Leeder, Alice Smith, Dr Margot McBride and Michael Allardice, to whom we are most grateful.