Warwick Medical School recently undertook a research project to investigate the Pass/Fail awarding gap for ethnic minority students on the MBChB programme. Currently, an awarding gap exists in favour of White students across all exam formats in all years, but the awarding gap reverses at resits, where MBE students out-perform White students. The project used action research to capture the experiences of students who failed exams at the first sit and proceeded to pass the resit. So far, the research team used these findings to inform WMS’ Athena Swan Gold submission and presented at internal and external conferences.

Next steps:

The research team will be moving into qualitative data collection, running focus groups with students who resat and passed to better understand their experiences. In particular, the team is interested in learning about what changed between the two sits. This information will be used to inform what WMS can do to offer greater, or earlier, interventions to support students.

This research project aimed to evaluate the proposal to include more student-centred questions in Reasonable Adjustment documents to capture disabled students’ own voices and experiences. Dr Mark Pulsford worked with two Student Inclusion Officers to review published research literature and explored approaches to including student voice in Reasonable Adjustments documents. From there, they created a bank of ‘student-centred’ questions which they shared with staff and students in interviews and focus groups.

Staff focus groups revealed that departments do not feel like they have capacity to accommodate the administration of rising adjustment requests; that Reasonable Adjustments are unclear, too generic, and not precise enough; that it is difficult to translate Reasonable Adjustments into tangible action and apply adjustments appropriately; and that ultimately, student experiences of Reasonable Adjustments are inconsistent.

Students viewed Reasonable Adjustments as valuable and important, but they expressed persistent communication issues between stakeholders; the drain of having to self-advocate (the burden is often felt to be placed on students at each new juncture); a lack of personalisation or specificity of Reasonable Adjustments; and a lack of signposting to support.

While students were positive about the ‘student-centred’ questions proposed, they felt that these should be optional as to not make the document even longer. They also noted that students may not want to answer every question. Combined with staff’s request for simpler and more specific approaches to Reasonable Adjustments, the project team decided that adding new questions would not be the best approach.

Next steps:

The research team is looking at alternative ways to embed student voice into Reasonable Adjustments and support for disabled students. They will be producing a personal tutoring conversation starter resource based on the questions that can be used in discussions with disabled students and they will be establishing a Disability Champions Network at Warwick to support module leaders and tutors to understand their learner’s needs. Moreover, the research conducted by the team was used by Disability Services to inform their ongoing revision of the Reasonable Adjustments document.

When faced with a rising number of student withdrawals, the Department of Chemistry at Warwick embarked on a unique project.

Led by Dr Tom Ritchie, Director of Student Experience, in-depth interviews are conducted with former students to understand their reasons for leaving. The project has unearthed valuable insights, revealing a need for greater mental health support, more cost-of-living support options, clearer course expectations and a more welcoming student environment.

The feedback fuelled the development of the award-winning We are Chemistry student engagement programme, enhanced cost-of-living support initiatives and informed a comprehensive curriculum review.

In addition, new year one modules and Inclusive Education plans have also been designed with student perspectives at heart. A new Chemistry Common Room has also been secured and refurbished, to foster a stronger sense of community.

Outputs:

• We are Chemistry - free events and activities, open to all students
• Cost of Living Support - useful resources and initiatives to help students feeling financial strain
• Designing for Inclusion - student-led projects aimed at creating interdisciplinary solutions to EDI issues
• Chemistry Common Room - breakout space crafted with student input

Next steps: The Chemistry department continues to conduct interviews each year as part of its ongoing audit of the student experience, to ensure it keeps evolving.

The Disability Data Dashboard has been developed in conjunction with the Strategic Planning & Analytics Office (SPA).

The dashboard is a Power Bi site, and uses visuals alongside comparison data to ensure that relevant staff are able to receive insights into the disabled students who study in their departments and programmes.

The dashboard is available to staff, and can be accessed by request via email to Dr Damien Homer (Head of Disability Services). Email:

Next steps: Disability Services are keen to develop the dashboard further and welcome any feedback or comments.

In the longer term, the team will continue to support departments in better understanding disabled students at Warwick.

Following the outcome of the department's Student Equity Survey, and guided by the University's strategic priorities on awarding gaps, the School for Cross-faculty Studies chose to work with five students to scope research projects. The research focused on decolonisation, trans-and non-binary-inclusive teaching, and addressing awarding gaps. In all three areas, the department identified the need for scoping research on best practice, on similar initiatives at Warwick and elsewhere, and on relevant challenges within the department.

Outputs:

• A scoping report, ‘Decolonising the School for Cross-faculty Studies’. This has been created to serve as a basis for staff and student consultation on questions of decolonisation.
• A student-led information resource for new trans- and non-binary students. This will be shared with students and staff and incorporated into the school’s student-facing webpages.
• A student-led review of pedagogical literature and practice, identifying best practice around trans- and non-binary inclusive teaching. This will also be shared with staff.
• A review of pedagogical literature on awarding gaps. This has helped identify key priorities for the department, particularly in terms of fostering a sense of belonging. This will also be shared with staff.

Next steps: Moving forward, the School for Cross-faculty Studies plans to focus on wider consultation across the department on themes raised from the research. This will include working with Student Staff Liaison Committees as well as engaging with co-creation opportunities for students and staff.

It is widely known that Widening Participation indicators available at UG level are not applicable to the PGT community, given that the PGT student population is mainly international. WBS is currently looking to identify specific attributes impacting attainment at PGT level.

The data review exercise carried out by WBS has looked at the following factors to try to ascertain differences in attainment for the PGT cohorts:

• Nationality
• Age
• Prior degree
• Standardised language tests (including reading, listening, writing and speaking scores)
• Funding Source
• Scholarship
• Gender
• Course

Most of the findings follow sector trends. Research has found that students coming from Europe (including the UK) are more likely to obtain a distinction compared to other groups. Having another Level 7 qualification, or another PGT degree, also positively impacts students’ chances of getting a distinction, as does obtaining a Warwick or WBS scholarship.

Some other findings are more specific to WBS cohorts. For example, clear attainment differences between several Asian countries. It was also found that students with a low International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score, in the reading section specifically, are less likely to obtain a distinction.

Using multiple factors of analysis was particularly useful to reveal previously hidden differences in awards and compare specific student groups.

Outputs: Digital content will be developed during the summer of 2024.

Next steps: The data review has been useful to highlight high-level attainment trends within the WBS PGT population, better understand reasons for awarding gaps between specific groups and start to think about potential interventions to support those students to succeed.

WBS is now also looking to understand how the support provided to PGT students may support learning gains in relation to awards.