Admissions targets should be based on evidence

UNIVERSITIES in Scotland has long expressed concerns about the use of the Scottish Index of Multi Deprivation (SIMD) as the sole way of determining the sector’s progress on widening access.

What we must remember is that the SIMD identifies areas not individuals. And it’s individuals who apply to university. We need to measure success intelligently, recognising that the majority of income-deprived people (around two thirds) live outside the most deprived areas as measured by SIMD.

This is especially the case in rural areas. The idea that there isn’t any poverty on any of the Shetland Islands or only a single pocket in the Higher Education Minister’s own constituency of Moray is fanciful.

We need targets to be set on an evidence-based basis, and it’s clear that SIMD is an inadequate measure of who is deprived since by its own admission SIMD20 excludes the majority of socioeconomically deprived people.

That’s why universities, alongside the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council are looking closely at what indicators, beyond SIMD and individuals who are care-experienced, should be used.

For instance, over half of the recipients of free school meals live outside SIMD20 areas – so shouldn’t we use that as an additional indicator of deep disadvantage? And we need a good indicator of disadvantage for the mature learners, including those progressing from college to university.

We are committed to recognising the potential in people from the full diversity of society and enabling them to succeed in completing their courses. That means giving special attention to the most disadvantaged – and knowing more accurately who they are.