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UCL is undertaking a project to address the disparities in outcomes and experience of undergraduate Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) and white students at UCL.
Analysis of UCL data shows that there is a small but statistically significant discrepancy in the rate of good degrees achieved by Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students compared with white students, despite entering UCL with the same high entry qualifications.
While UCL students, whether white or BAME, tend to perform well above national benchmarks, this discrepancy, known as an awarding gap, has persisted for the past few years.
UCL’s ‘close the gap’ project ran alongside UCL’s participation as the only Russell Group institution in a HEFCE-funded consortium project led by Kingston University. This project used a value-added metric and an inclusive curriculum framework to address the BAME awarding gap. The consortium project came to a close in 2019 and further information can be found on the project webpage.
A project team has been assembled to address the awarding gap at UCL, comprised of three Co-Leads, Paulette Williams, Head of the BAME Awarding Gap Project (Student Success), Dr Julie Evans, Faculty Tutor in Brain Sciences and Professor Parama Chaudhury. The teams works with Deans and faculty leads to analyse faculty-specific data and introduce a toolkit of interventions to close the awarding gap.
The outcomes of this project also feeds into UCL’s application to renew our Race Charter status.
We need to ensure the BAME awarding gap remains a priority at local level, even when there are other competing priorities so we can deliver on our commitment to close the gap by 2024.
Professor Deborah Gill, Interim Vice-Provost (Education & Student Experience)