Tag Archives: Shirley-Anne Somerville

Minister comments on 2016-17 widening access statistics⤴

from @ Engage for Education

Commenting on the publication of the Scottish Funding Council’s Report on Widening Access 2016-17, Further and Higher Education Minister Shirley-Anne Somerville said:

“These figures are a stark reminder of why this Government was right to take the action we did on widening access.

“They show that in the four years up to 2016-17 nothing had changed and, on their own, universities were not making improvement in increasing the percentage of students from the 20% most deprived areas.

“The Commission on Widening Access reported in March 2016, by which time the vast majority of students had already applied for the 2016-17 academic year. So these figures provide a baseline from which to judge how successfully the Commission’s recommendations will be implemented – at a national level but also at an individual institution level.

“More recent figures from UCAS show a 13% increase in the number of Scots from disadvantaged areas getting a place to study at a Scottish university in 2017-18. So we expect to see demonstrable progress next year and beyond.”

Background

  • The Scottish Funding Council report on Widening Access 2016-17 can be viewed on the Scottish Funding Council website. http://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications-statistics/statistical-publications/statistical-publications-2018/SFCST062018.aspx
  • The data shows that, in 2016-17, 13.8% of full-time first degree entrants were from SIMD20. For all Higher Education entrants (including sub-degree and college), 17.7% are from SIMD 20.
  • The Commission on Widening Access target, accepted by the Scottish Government is, by 2030, students from the 20% most deprived backgrounds should represent 20% of entrants to higher education, with equality of access seen in both the college and university sector.
  • To drive forward progress to the 2030 goal the interim targets are:
    – 16% of full-time first degree entrants to Scottish universities from the 20% most deprived areas (SIMD20) by 2021;
    – 18% of full-time first degree entrants to Scottish universities from the 20% most deprived areas (SIMD20) by 2026;
    – By 2021, an individual institutional target for universities  of 10%.
  • The Commission’s final report was published in March 2016. The main UCAS deadline for the 2016-17 academic year was January 2016.
  • The UCAS 2017 End of Cycle report (published December/January) showed a 13% increase in the number of Scots from the most deprived communities getting places to study at a Scottish university in 2017 (4,565 in 2016 to 5,170 in 2017).

The post Minister comments on 2016-17 widening access statistics appeared first on Engage for Education.

Developing the digital skills to change career⤴

from @ Engage for Education

Last week Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science Shirley-Anne Somerville visited CodeClan, the UK’s first accredited digital skills academy.

Claire Smith, a graduate of CodeClan’s 16-week software development course, writes about her experiences as a career changer moving into the digital sector.

“After University I was lucky enough to get work in an industry that was relevant to my degree, Japanese Studies. However it didn’t pan out for several reasons. I found myself at a loss as to what to do next, and spent my free time working with a local Food Waste charity. Through this charity’s need to digitise their logistics I became involved in developing an app.

“From there, it was a natural process of wanting to push my skills further so I applied for CodeClan, although this involved some big risks that I had to consider, including money, time commitment and the big question of whether I would be able to get a job after doing the course. But I weighed it up and it seemed worth it.

 

“CodeClan is a 16-week intensive course covering the basics of web development. One thing I knew from the start was that it would not be a spoon-feeding course where your graduation present is a job. It involves your full commitment and pushing your learning further outside of class hours. However, the support of my instructors and teamwork with classmates kept me motivated through the course.

 

“Assignments were handed out daily as well as a mini project to cover each weekend. This led on to group projects, which I loved. The course highlighted that a successful project depends not just on technical knowledge but also learning about Agile methodology and the workflow process. But it’s not all work and no play. I was often in the ping pong room or having a game of Werewolf with other students.

 

“CodeClan organised Employer Sessions, where various companies would come in and give an insight of what it would be like to work for them. And by the end of the course, I had a portfolio covering a range of languages including Ruby, Java and Javascript to aid in getting a job.

 

“CodeClan put a lot of time into creating opportunities to meet employers, and it was through this that I got a job as a Backend Developer at Signal where I’ve  been working for just over a year.

 

“As a Backend Developer, I work mostly in PHP, a language that was not covered by CodeClan. But the experience of picking up various languages in just 16 weeks taught me the skills needed to get going with PHP. After a year working in the industry, I look back on the risk I took and I’m glad I was in the position to take it.

 

“One of the major learning curves I’ve had, and will continue to have, is being comfortable not knowing the answer – and having the curiosity to explore and research until I do. I am also lucky that my curiosity is supported and encouraged by my fellow colleagues. Working in a digital agency like Signal offers plenty of exciting challenges which helps keep me motivated to improve my skills.”

For more information about digital careers in Scotland visit digitalworld.net

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Scotland’s budget – delivering for colleges⤴

from @ Engage for Education

Last week, the Scottish Government’s budget underlined the importance that we are placing on education.

Overall, total investment in education and skills will go up by £170 million in 2017/18. We will invest an initial £60m in the infrastructure required to deliver our transformational childcare reforms; Scotland’s schools will get £120 million more to tackle the attainment gap; for the sixth year running we will invest more than £1 billion in our world-class university sector and we will continue to fund our expansion of modern apprenticeships.

The budget also delivered for Scotland’s college sector.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting West Lothian College to see some of the fantastic facilities that are helping the college staff equip the students with the skills they need for employment. The whole college is focused on helping students plan their progression – whether that is into work, or onto further study.

To better meet the demands of the community and industry, the college has expanded its course range and improved its facilities in engineering, construction and computing. It also built a £1.1m skills centre with the support of the Scottish Funding Council.

For example, I was really interested to see the fantastic work going on in the college’s new joinery and woodwork workshop, which is helping young people develop the practical skills they need to enter the construction industry.

Last week’s budget will ensure that more colleges across Scotland are able to focus their offering and improve their facilities just has West Lothian has.

Despite a very tight financial settlement, we have increased college funding overall by 7.4% in cash-terms and by 5.9% in real-terms compared with the 2016-17 draft budget. College resource funding is up  £21 million to £551.3 million  – a real-terms increase of 2.5% over the year.  Over the same period, college capital funding is up £20.4 million to £47.4 million – a real-terms increase of 73%.

This settlement – which has been welcomed by the sector – will allow colleges to continue the great work they do in their communities preparing students to take their place in the workforce of the future.

Commissioner for Fair Access⤴

from @ Engage for Education

Professor Peter Scott has been appointed Commissioner for Fair Access to Higher Education in Scotland.

This was a key point in the report from the Commission on Widening Access published earlier this year. The Scottish Government has committed to implementing its recommendations in full.

Prof Scott is currently Professor of Higher Education studies at University College London.

As Scotland’s Fair Access Commissioner, he will be tasked with driving the fair access agenda and making sure that young people from our most disadvantaged communities are able to reach their full potential

I made the announcement at Glasgow University, where Prof Scott and I were fortunate to be able to speak to students who have benefitted from widening access programmes and are now flourishing in higher education. One of them – Paula – has shared her life-changing story for this blog.

It’s clear from my early discussions with Prof Scott that he has a passion for widening access to higher education.

It’s a passion that I share.  A child born in our poorest communities should, by the time they leave school, have the same chance of going to university as a child born in our wealthiest communities. That is what the Scottish Government is determined to achieve.

UCAS figures published yesterday show the highest ever entry rate to Scottish universities for 18 year olds from Scotland’s 20% most deprived areas. Since 2006, the rate has increased by 3.7 percentage points to 10.9%. That is encouraging, but there is much more to do and the appointment of Prof Scott is an important milestone to achieving that. 

There is more information about Prof Scott below, including the comments he made at today’s event.

Prof Scott said:

“It is a great honour, and challenge, to be appointed Commissioner for Fair Access. The greatest challenge facing all Higher Education systems in the world is how to remove barriers to fair access, and reduce the glaring inequalities in participation between haves and have-nots.

“These inequalities undermine our efforts to build a high-skill economy and, more fundamentally, deny individuals the opportunities that should be available to all citizens in a democracy.

“I look forward very much to working with universities, colleges and schools as well as the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Government to address these challenges.”

Biography

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Professor Peter Scott is Professor of Higher Education studies at University College London.

Prior to that he was Vice-Chancellor of Kingston University and Pro Vice-Chancellor for external affairs at the University of Leeds. He was a member of the board of the Higher Education Funding Council for England where he chaired its widening participation strategic committee.

His earlier career was spent in journalism and he was Editor of the Times Higher Education.

Professor Scott was knighted in 2007 for services to education and is the recipient of a number of honorary degrees. He has published widely on education, including widening access issues.