Sectoral Initiatives under SIF
Sectoral Access Project
This ‘equity of access’ project, involving the seven universities and the DIT, will build on best practice to support national and institutional policies towards increased participation of under-represented groups in higher education. Through the development of clear information and guidelines, and enhanced access mechanisms, the project will raise awareness of the opportunities available at third level for the target groups.
The project will focus on students who experience educational disadvantage because of a disability and/or socio-economic background and as a consequence, don’t reach their full academic potential at second level. These target groups are generally considered by the higher education sector in isolation of each other. However this project will, for the first time, also consider the situation of students experiencing multiple disadvantaged, i.e. those from under-represented socio-economic groups with a disability.
The project aims to:
- Describe and critique existing access mechanisms into higher education for students from under-represented socio-economic groups and students with a disability.
- Clearly define the access target groups, including indicators of eligibility and methods of verification, for the purpose of informing, attracting & admitting such students to higher education.
- Clearly outline the criteria and processes for assessing and determining the eligibility of applicants who experience educational disadvantage because of a disability and/or socio-economic background, for the purpose of supplementary admission to higher education.
- Benchmark definitions, criteria and processes against best practice internationally.
- Put in place a centralised system for recording and reporting key ‘access’ application data and decisions, which could at some future date interface with CAO.
The Project Outputs will include:
- Clear and transparent information on the eligibility criteria for supplementary admission routes to higher education and the procedures associated with these entry mechanisms.
- Development of a single customised database to manage and report key information on the target groups, at the admissions stage and beyond.
- Detailed analysis of who is currently applying and being admitted from the target groups and (perhaps more importantly) who is not!
This project, which is funded through the Strategic Innovation Fund (Cycle 1), represents the first phase of a more extensive initiative. The long-term aim of the universities and DIT is to widen the base for high quality student recruitment from under-represented groups nationally, through dissemination of high quality information, awareness raising of access opportunities nationally, the establishment of ambitious targets for inclusion of such students by higher education institutions, centrally managed admissions mechanisms for the target groups (i.e. embedded in CAO) and the capacity for accurate reporting and data collection on the access issue. The IUA will make application to SIF Cycle 2 to support the development of Phase 2 of this project.
Consultation and Partnership
The project will be developed in consultation with key stakeholders and partners, including Access, Disability and Admissions Officers; second and third level students, their teachers and parents; the CAO; the Higher Education Authority and Department of Education and Science; representative organisations and expert in the field. Although this initiative is currently being developed by the universities and DIT, the IUA envisage wider application across the entire HE sector, including the Institutes of Technology.
Ultimate responsibility for the project rests with the IUA Registrars’ Group. Maureen Dunne is the IUA Project Manager.
