External Report

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3. Who participates?
RO participants are very able students from backgrounds which make them less likely to progress to higher education
(HE), especially to RIUs. In short, they are the ‘most able and least likely’ to attend HE. As individuals, students that
the RO programme aims to support can be defined using three key characteristics3:
l They come from schools performing below the national
average (at key stages 4 and/or 5) or which have a higher
number of students eligible for free school meals than the
national average.
l They must have achieved eight A*-C/9-4 GCSE grades
(or equivalent qualifications), including English and Maths,
and have at least five subjects graded A*-B or 9-6.
l They meet two of the following criteria:
l Live in a neighbourhood with a low progression rate to
higher education, or with a high level of deprivation 5
l Come from a home where neither parent attended
university
l Be entitled to discretionary payments / 16 - 19 bursary /
Pupil Premium at school / college
l Be entitled to free school meals
l Alternatively, if students are living in, or have lived in,
local authority care, or are a young carer, then they
are eligible without needing to meet two of the above
criteria.
If students do not meet the prior attainment criteria or at
least two of the widening participation (WP) criteria, but have
experienced difficult family or individual circumstances that
may affect their performance in exams or the likelihood
of them going to university, their application may still be
considered on an individual basis.
To date, over 6,000 students in total have taken part in the
RO Programme. Key statistics about students in the most
recent annual RO cohort, and the total population to date,
are presented in Table 2 below:
3. This shows the criteria for participants up to and including Cohort 9 ie the students discussed in this report. The most recent criteria for recruitment
to RO is on the RO website –
4. Based on Participation of Local Areas (POLAR) quintile. POLAR is a measure of education disadvantage. For more information see
5. Based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation )
Table 2 Key characteristics of latest Cohort, and all RO starters
Cohort 9 All cohorts
Starters on the programme 1,013 6,059
Gender breakdown 70% female/30% male 66% female/34% male
Ethnicity breakdown 46% white/54% BME 53% white/47% BME
% from POLAR quintiles 1 and 2 60% 66%
% with parents with no experience of HE 92% 91%
% entitled to free school meals 31% 28%
% in receipt of discretionary payments/EMA 60% 54%
% with a disability or special need 9% 7%
% with 8 or more GCSE passes at A*-C grades 98% 99%
5