The Open University in Scotland - collection and use of equality data: case study

Footnotes

1 Note: ‘equality data’ refers to ‘equality and socio-economic disadvantage data’ and covers the protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act 2010 (age, religion and belief, race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, and gender reassignment) and (any) indicators of socio-economic disadvantage.

2 Note that The Open University in Scotland is part of the wider 4-Nations Open University, which operates across the whole of the UK.

3 In contrast to other universities, all OU registrations are made directly and not via the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS). As a consequence, all student information has to be collected directly by the OU.

4 Information about gender reassignment has not been collected in previous years. The Higher Education Statistics Agency have made this a mandatory requirement for providers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for the 2020/21 data collection (due for submission autumn 2021); it remains an optional requirement for providers in Scotland.

5 Note that 24% of OU students have declared a disability of some kind.

6 The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects, assures and disseminates data about higher education in the UK on behalf of their statutory customers.

7 The ‘degree awarding gap’ or ‘degree attainment gap’ refers to the difference in ‘top degrees’ – a First or 2:1 classification – awarded to different groups of students. The biggest differences are currently found by ethnic background.

8 The Achieving Your Goals project was shortlisted in the 20/21 AGCAS Awards for Excellence in Supporting Student/Graduate Employability category. A webcast describing the project is available here.