Contextual data in admissions

Examples of HEI currently using contextual data in admissions

This list is not exhaustive but gives some examples of how contextual data is being used in admissions. The information has been taken from the institutions websites, some details may have been excluded for the sake of brevity on the SPA website. The web links are provided so full details can be seen. The examples are provided here with the permission of the universities involved.

Institutions with other examples of similar other or other contextual data use are encouraged to contact SPA to enable further examples to be provided in one place.

University of Manchester
University of Bristol
Durham University
Edinburgh University
Oxford University

University of Manchester

The central Admissions Office collates contextual information for its staff for a full and rounded view of applicant achievement and potential.
Publicly available datasets from government and other agencies are used.
Used for UK applicants under the age of 21 only.
It is simply additional information provided to admissions decision makers alongside applicants' UCAS forms.
No decisions will be made on the basis of this information alone and all undergraduate applicants must meet their standard academic criteria to be considered for entry.

For more details see www.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/howtoapply/generalentryrequirements/#contextual/

Four pieces of contextual information are provided to the academic Schools, where available:

The educational context of the applicant's school or college where they undertook GCSE or equivalent level through performance data;
The performance of the applicant's school or college at A-level or equivalent level; In both instances a candidate will be flagged if their educational establishment performs below the national average across multiple years (where data is available);
The postcode that an applicant gives as their home address, assessed using ACORN information. ACORN is a system that associates specific geo-demographic profiles to individual UK postcodes. It is widely recognised and used by public and private sector organisations to assist in the effective targeting of policies, services and communications. Where an applicant’s postcode falls into an ACORN group underrepresented in leading research-intensive universities, they will be flagged;
Whether an applicant has been looked after/in care for more than three months - this is determined from the UCAS application;

A combination of the above factors is used to avoid over-reliance on any one indicator. An overall flag is only produced if an applicant meets at least one of the educational indicators plus the geo-demographic indicator. They also receive an overall flag if they have been in care for more than 3 months.

Where applicants are predicted to achieve Manchester's standard academic entry criteria, contextual data is considered alongside information on the UCAS form to provide a fuller picture of the applicant.

A combination of the factors is used to avoid over-reliance on any one indicator.
An overall flag is only produced if an applicant meets at least one of the educational indicators plus the geo-demographic indicator.
They also receive an overall flag if they have been in care for more than 3 months.
Where applicants are predicted to achieve their standard academic entry criteria, contextual data is considered alongside information in the UCAS application to provide a fuller picture of the applicant.
Where applicants with an overall flag meet standard academic entry criteria, they are recommended for further consideration by admissions tutors.

Further consideration does not result in either an automatic offer or a lower offer but can include:

Additional examination of the personal statement;
Making available information about an applicant's background to interviewers;
Further consideration during confirmation of final results.

For more information see Manchester website for PDFs:

Principles and Processes of Contextual Data
The Role of the Contextual Data Flag in Admissions Decision-Making Processes
Educational Indicators (A list of schools and contextual flags)
Methodology Behind the Contextual Indicators

The contextual flags by postcode can be looked up using Manchester's geo-demographic indicator.

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University of Bristol

This information is extracted from the admissions policy webpages

7.3
Actual and/or predicted performance in public examinations is a key indicator of academic potential for degree-level study. Schools will recognise that a level of performance which is exceptional in its context may indicate outstanding ability, motivation and potential, and will take this into account in assessing the varying performance of candidates.

7.4
Educational context may be evidenced in a variety of ways, depending on an individual applicant's circumstances. These may include quantifiable evidence of educational disadvantage as defined in para 7.5 or more generic evidence drawn from the applicant's personal statement or reference (see paras 7.9 and 7.11).

7.5
The University will seek to refine its definition of educational disadvantage on an annual basis. Currently, educational disadvantage is defined as attendance at a school or college where, in the previous year the school or college was ranked in the bottom 40 per cent of all schools and colleges in relation to the average score per 'A' Level entry, the average score per 'A' Level entrant or the percentage of students applying to Higher Education. For selection purposes, candidates from low performing schools/ colleges may be given a lower offer in relation to those from other schools/ colleges.

There is no 'blanket' discrimination in favour of candidates from any particular type of background and each case is considered on its individual merits. Information about the relative performance of English schools is readily available. The Recruitment, Access and Admissions Office will endeavour to provide Schools with information on the performance of schools and colleges outside England, where not all of the above information is readily available.

7.9
The Personal Statement and Reference provide important supplementary indications of ability, motivation and potential, as well as information about personal circumstances and social and cultural context. They are read carefully and taken into account in reaching a decision. Criteria for assessing the Personal Statement may include, for example:

Demonstrated interest in and commitment to the subject
Evidence of clear thinking and understanding
Appropriateness of the Bristol course in relation to the candidate's declared interests and aspirations
Non-academic achievement and/or experience, or extra-curricular interests, that indicate the likely contribution a candidate will make to the life of the University
Other relevant skills - eg foreign languages

7.10
Many universities, including the University of Bristol, offer Access or Compact schemes which encourage students to improve their understanding of the opportunities available to them in Higher Education and to develop study skills to support their transition to university study. The University recognises the value of these schemes in preparing students for Higher Education and, in addition, to recognising participation in our own ‘Access to Bristol’ scheme, has made a specific commitment to giving special consideration (as part of our normal holistic assessment of applications) to applicants who have participated in the Realising Opportunities scheme.

7.11
Admissions staff will take into account the candidate's response to the opportunities and challenges faced, in the understanding that these are not the same for all.

7.12
Allowance will be made for any candidate (from whatever educational sector) with verified exceptional circumstances or who has faced difficult challenges in a positive way, where these are made known to the University (eg illness, death of a parent, poverty, disrupted education, refugee status). The School may decide to offer a place to a candidate whose academic performance appears to have been affected by such circumstances and who might otherwise have been expected to do better.

From Bristol website www.bris.ac.uk/university/governance/policies/admissions/home-eu.html

University of Bristol Contextual data research

The Widening Participation Research Cluster (WPRC) led by Dr Tony Hoare was established in 2004 to undertake WP research pertinent to University's own circumstances
This was overseen by the Head of Widening Participation and the Director of Student Recruitment, Access and Admissions, supported by a research budget from the additional fee income from the University's Access Agreement.

Research includes:

The evidence for educational disadvantage: the possible differences between applicants' paper qualifications and degree potential - attainment at the end of Year 13 (at A-level) may misrepresent degree potential in certain WP groups.
Research has also looked at any similar evidence about GCSE profiles and how this can this also be factored into decisions of Admission Tutors.

More details can be seen in presentations given at a research seminar at Bristol in September 2009: www.bristol.ac.uk/academicregistry/raa/wpur-office/seminar/programme/

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Durham University

Multiple factors are taken into account to identify the most able applicants by academic staff who are experts in their field and who teach their subject:

A-Level (or equivalent) grades;
GCSE (or equivalent) grades;
the personal statement;
the reference;
the development of study skills;
motivation for the degree programme applied for;
independence of thought and working;
skills derived from non-academic extra-curricular activities such as engagement in sport, the arts or voluntary and community work; and
contextual consideration of merit and potential

More details are available at www.dur.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/policy/

In addition to the contextual information provided on the application via UCAS, that is educational journey since age 11, an indicator of time in care, and contextual information in the personal statement and reference, the University also uses the following:

if an applicant is from a neighbourhood where progression to HE is low;
if an applicant has participated in a significant outreach activity organised by the University e.g. a Summer School; and
an indicator of whether the average school performance where the applicant took their GCSEs is above or below the national average.

All information will be presented in a similar format and no individual piece of the contextual information will be more important than any other.

Durham does not make lower offers on the basis of this contextual or any other information and this will continue to be the case.

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University of Edinburgh

Contextual factors may include:

schools with low progression to HE rates or where the level of performance in examinations is below average
those whose parents or guardians have not previously attended university (must complete on UCAS application)
applicants who have participated on a recognised access programme

www.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergraduate/applications-admissions/selection/select

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University of Oxford

The Undergraduate Admissions Office will collate contextual information centrally for all Oxford University applicants permanently domiciled or seeking asylum in the UK at the point of application, and who have been educated in the UK secondary system, using publicly available information from the government, and disseminate this information to colleges and departments.

Three aspects of contextual data are considered for students applying for entry in 2011, or deferred entry in 2012

1. Prior Education

The performance of the applicant’s school or college at GCSE or equivalent level and;
The performance of the applicant’s school or college at A-level or equivalent level.

In both instances a candidate will receive a flag if their educational establishment performs below the national average using Department of Education or equivalent data. GCSE data will consider achievement of both Mathematics and English/Welsh in the school performance information.

Candidates applying from Scotland will receive a flag if their school or college has lower than the national average performance for student progression to Higher Education;

2. Socio-Economic Circumstance

The postcode that an applicant gives as their home address, assessed using ACORN information

ACORN is a system that associates specific geodemographic profiles to individual UK postcodes; it is widely recognised and used by both the public and private sectors to assist in the effective targeting of policies, services and communications. Where a candidate's postcode falls into ACORN groups four or five the application will be flagged.

3. Care Status

Whether a candidate has been looked after/in care for more than three months (determined from the UCAS application, and subject to later verification checks);

Action to be taken:

Where an applicant is predicted to achieve three A grades at A-level, or equivalent qualifications (the usual requirements of a conditional offer of a place at Oxford), and performs to an appropriate standard in any required pre-interview admissions test, a candidate will be strongly recommended for interview if the contextual information for both prior education and socio-economic circumstance is flagged. Where a flagged candidate is not shortlisted for interview, an explanation must be provided to the department. This can be followed up by candidates in January, after the admissions interviews have taken place.

Candidates who achieve a flag for being looked after/in care for a period of greater than three months, and who are predicted to achieve three A grades at A-level or equivalent and perform at an appropriate standard in any required pre-interview test will also be strongly recommended for interview.

Note that this use of contextual information does not result in either an automatic offer of a place or a lower offer to a candidate. The candidates flagged through use of contextual information are interviewed in addition to students who are short-listed for interview using the usual departmental interview short-listing criteria, so they do not displace students who have already demonstrated the expected academic ability and potential.

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/finding_out_more/contextual_data.html

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Reviewed and updated: February 2011