Care Experienced Bursary eligibility change: equality impact assessment

Equality Impact Assessment for eligibility change for CEB to include Care Experience Outside of the UK

Title of policy:

Care Experienced Bursary (CEB): Eligibility Change to include Care Experience outside of the UK

Summary of aims and desired outcomes of Policy:

The eligibility criteria for the CEB requires a student have been ‘looked after’ by a Local Authority in the UK, prior to the age of 18 years. This did not account for students who had experienced care outside of the UK. This change will make a change to the eligibility criteria for the CEB to include care outside of the UK

Directorate: Lifelong Learning and Skills

Division: Learner Experience Division

Team: Student Financial Support Team

Executive summary

This EQIA considered the impacts of extending the eligibility for the Care Experienced Bursary (CEB) to those with care outside of the UK, which contributes to the following national outcomes:

• We are well educated, skilled and able to contribute to society

As the change to extend the eligibility criteria for the CEB to include care outside of the UK is intended as a positive change, it was considered a concise and focussed EQIA was proportionate in these circumstances.

The EQIA found neutral impacts as a result of extending the eligibility criteria of the CEB, with a positive impact on race as the change to the policy eliminated potential discrimination on grounds of nationality.

Background

The CEB is a non-repayable bursary of £9,000 available to students in both Further and Higher Education. The current eligibility criteria for the CEB requires a student to have been ‘looked after’ by a Local Authority in the UK, prior to the age of 18 years.

The CEB policy is reviewed frequently to ensure it is as accessible as possible for students with care experience. Whilst the current eligibility allows Scottish domiciled students, irrespective of nationality, to access the Care Experienced Bursary, it did not account for students who had experienced care outside of the UK.

In recognition of this – a change was made to the eligibility criteria of the CEB to include care outside of the UK.

This change will affect all eligible students in both Further and Higher Education, who have experienced care outside of the UK.

The Scope of the EQIA

An initial framing exercise was undertaken by the Lifelong Learning and Skills Division to gather evidence to inform this EQIA. This included close collaboration with Colleagues in the Student Awards Agency Scotland and Scottish Funding Council, to understand outstanding student support applications that could be affected by this change and the nature of the applications.

A request to gather and analyse data on all protected characteristic within the EQIA was completed by the Advanced Learning and Skills Analysis Unit. This included a search on data relating to:

• Age
• Gender
• Disability
• Pregnancy and Maternity
• Gender Reassignment
• Sexual Orientation
• Race
• Religion or Belief

The exception was Marriage and Civil Partnership as the Scottish Government does not require assessment against this protected characteristic unless the policy or practice relates to work.

At the time of the impact analysis there was no data available relating to characteristics of students who have experienced care outside of the UK and therefore the impact that this policy change will have on them. Since implementation we have asked the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) to gather data on student applications for this category.

SAAS have since reported 5 cases of students accessing the CEB under the new eligibility criteria. We have had no reports from SFC to date.

Despite the significant lack of data, the change will apply to all students with experience of care outside of the UK, irrespective of the protected characteristics of the EQIA.

Key Findings

Neutral impacts as a result of extending the eligibility criteria of the CEB were identified against all protected characteristics, with the exception of race. However, the policy change is being introduced universally regardless of the protected characteristics and is therefore seen as a positive change as it will increase opportunity for those with care experience to enter and remain in Further and Higher Education.

With regards to race, this change to the CEB policy will eliminate discrimination on grounds of nationality and therefore have a positive impact on race.

Recommendations and Conclusion

The change to the CEB eligibility in general is viewed as a positive change as it further expands accessibility to the CEB and increases opportunity for students who have experienced care outside of the UK to access the CEB.

SAAS and SFC will gather statistical data on student applications for the CEB and we will be able to monitor the impact of this change on relevant groups going forward. The Care Experienced student support package also remains subject to ongoing monitoring to ensure it is as accessible as possible to Care Experienced students.