Data Visualisation of data showing Participation of Under-Represented Groups in Higher Education
In June 2011, Postgrad.com and information designer, David McCandless teamed up to come up with a new data visualisation competition. One of the possibilities was to graphically visualise data of the socio-economic background of students attending different institutions.
The GLA entered this Instant Atlas report into the competition to help demonstrate the differences in background of undergraduates entering universities. The report shows proportions of students from lower NS-SEC groups, State-schools and Low-participation neighbourhoods, and also proportions of young and mature undergraduates.
Tip: Use the filters just above the map to show Russell Group Universities or the 1994 Group of Universities. To narrow the map down to a single region use the Filter by Region button.
The data used in this report can be accessed here (Excel).
The full analysis found in the report can also be accessed here (Word).
Sources:
Universities data comes from HESA.
Census data for England and Wales from NOMIS and for Scotland from GROS.
Indices of Deprivation is from DCLG.
Level-3 Exam results are taken from Neighbourhood Statistics.
Notes and definitions:
Higher education (HE) students are those students studying above that of level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework, i.e. courses leading to the Advanced Level of the General Certificate of Education (GCE A levels). Note, the universities data shows data for undergraduates only, not postgraduates.
Young students are those who are aged under 21 at 30 September of the academic year in which they are recorded as entering the institution.
Mature students are those who are aged 21 or over, also at 30 September of the academic year in which they are recorded as entering the institution.
The information on socio-economic classification is taken from the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC). The classifications used are:
1 Higher managerial and professional occupations
2 Lower managerial and professional occupations
3 Intermediate occupations
4 Small employers and own account workers
5 Lower supervisory and technical occupations
6 Semi-routine occupations
7 Routine occupations
The performance indicator is the proportion of students from NS-SEC classes 4 to 7 (HESA field SEC codes 4, 5, 6 and 7) out of those from NS-SEC classes 1 to 7.
Low participation neighbourhoods were defined based on the HE participation rates of people who were aged 18 between 2000 and 2004 and entered a HE course in a UK higher education institution or GB further education college, aged 18 or 19, between academic years 2000/01 and 2005/06.
Level 3 Qualifications include achievements of young people aged 16 to 18 (at the start of the academic year) in GCE/Applied GCE A Level and Applied GCE Double Award and Level 3 qualifications equivalent in size to at least one GCE/Applied GCE A Level in 2009/10 and who are resident in England. The results are referenced by location of student residence. Figures are derived from the results of students in Local Authority (LA) maintained schools, Academies, City Technology Colleges (CTCs) and general Further Education Sector Colleges.
Average Point Score Per Student is calculated as the sum of the points awarded to each student using the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) tariff, divided by the total number of students.
English Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2010
Average of LSOA scores is the population weighted average of the combined scores for the LSOAs in a local authority district. This measure is calculated by averaging the LSOA scores in each local authority district after they have been population weighted. (England only)
The Employment Deprivation figure measures employment deprivation in an area conceptualised as involuntary exclusion of the working age population from the labour market. A combined count of employment deprived individuals per LSOA is calculated by summing seven key indicators.
LSOAs are ranked such that the most deprived LSOA is given the rank of 32482. To calculate the average of LSOA ranks, the LSOA ranks are population weighted within a local authority district to take account of the fact that LSOA size can vary.
For more information of all of these indicators please visit the source website.
Packages:
