How to get involved
We invite all staff to join our collective approach to eliminating awarding gaps but it can be difficult to know ‘where to start’. Incremental steps can amount to institutional change. A simple initiation point could be to gain insight through one-to-one meetings with colleagues or by reading the literature.
If you are considering introducing an awarding gap intervention you can notify us by completing this short survey.
The resources below offer further options for supporting the agenda.
Awarding Gap Steering Group
The Awarding Gap Steering Group is a formal committee consisting of ‘Awarding Gap Representatives’ who meet every six weeks to shape the strategic direction of work to eliminate awarding gaps and enable the sharing of good practices between academic colleagues. Awarding gap representatives are appointed by the senior management team of their respective academic school. The Representatives are joined by colleagues with lived experience of the topics being discussed, or expertise in inclusive practice. Academic colleagues can contact their school’s Awarding Gap Representative for more information on how to support the agenda locally.
The following committee membership is accurate as of December 2023. Staff turnover may affect the accuracy of this list until it is refreshed.
| Name | Role |
| Mathew Haine | Secretary |
| Katja Strohfeldt (Teaching and Learning Dean) | Co-chair |
| Anne-Marie Henderson (Director of Student Success) | Co-chair |
| Danie Woodbridge | Member – Disability Advisory Service |
| Sue Blackett | Member – Henley Business School |
| Billy Wong | Member – Research and Evaluation, Access & Participation |
| Michael Kilmister | Member – Academic Development and Enhancement |
| Gabe James | Member – RUSU Inclusion and Communities Officer |
| Maria Kinch | Member – University Director of Foundation Year Studies |
| Kate Johnson | Rep – School of Agriculture, Policy and Development |
| Mark Peace | Rep – International Study and Language Institute |
| Alison MacLeod | Rep – School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science |
| Nigel Wadeson | Rep – School of Politics, Economics and International Relations |
| Rachel Pye | Rep – School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences |
| Holly Joseph | Rep – Institute of Education |
| Melissa Carr / Miriam Marra | Reps – Henley Business School |
| Sarah Marston | Rep – Institute of Education |
| Frances Hamilton | Rep – Law |
| Joy Singarayer | Rep – Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences |
| Carolina Vasilikou | Rep – School of Architecture |
| Lucy Tyler | Rep – School of Arts and Communication Design |
| Chris Jones | Rep – School of Biological Sciences |
| Mauricio Cafiero | Rep – School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy |
| Sakthi Vaiyapuri | Rep – School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy |
| Dragana Nikolic | Rep – School of Construction and Engineering |
| Dina Rezk | Rep – School of Humanities |
| Sue Walsh | Rep – School of Literature & Languages |
Diversity & Inclusion Communities
The Diversity & Inclusion Community of Interest (DICOI) and Diversity & Inclusion Community of Practice (DICOP) are university-wide groups in which staff can convene to discuss strategies for inclusive practice and closing awarding gaps.
DICOI is a recommended starting point for those with an interest in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. It is open to all and is a space for those interested in D&I issues to share and discuss with others across the University. DICOP includes representatives from academic schools, functions and chairs of all staff networks. It is suitable for colleagues already practicing in this area. If you would like to join the DICOI as a first step, please email diversity@reading.ac.uk.
Student Partnership and Collaboration
Student partnership and collaboration is crucial when designing interventions aimed at awarding gaps, so that any solution is properly contextualised and meets the relevant needs of current students. The following established student partnership schemes can help you design your awarding gap initiative:
Student Partners engage in a range of T&L projects which may include researching and presenting ideas for educational change and innovation; co-creating student-facing resources and providing real-time feedback and problem solving.
Inclusion Consultants are current students who self-identify as members of underrepresented groups. They help advise university colleagues on inclusive practice through a facilitated discussion space. This resource is designed to help academic colleagues overcome the challenge of securing engagement from diverse students in a school or department context. Consultation topics to date have included ‘How can I start a BAME student network in my school?’ and ‘How could our field trips be made more inclusive?’. Please contact Student Outcomes (outcomes@reading.ac.uk) for more information, or to express interest in a consultation.
Further Support for Working in Partnership
While utilising partnership opportunities at the University of Reading is a useful way of centring lived experience at the planning stage and to improve the likelihood of success, it’s important to follow good practice principles when co-creating and co-designing with students. We recommend you underpin your approach with the UoR Principles of Partnership. Broadly, these ensure partnership:
- Is based on values of trust and respect
- Is empowering and inclusive
- Enables the collaborative development of meaningful change
- Creates a sense of belonging to an academic community.
See also CQSD-ADE’s Student Voice & Partnership toolkit for further advice on working in partnership with students, including how to evaluate your approaches.
Awarding Gap Consultations
The Access and Participation Plan (2024-28) establishes ‘intervention design working groups’ as a methodology for closing awarding gaps, with a particular focus on those schools and departments showing on-course continuation and attainment issues for minority ethnic students, mature students, Free School Meal eligible students and students from the Indices of Multiple Deprivation Quintile 1 and 2. How do I know if my school has these gaps? Your Awarding Gap Representative has access to performance data at school and department level.
These consultations are designed to support staff in academic contexts leading on action plans to tackle continuation and awarding gaps (such as Awarding Gap Representatives or SDTLs). This could inform the development of ongoing T&L enhancement activity (such as PRP activity and School Teaching and Enhancement Action Plans).
The support offered includes bespoke faculty consultations which bring together colleagues from Research and Evaluation (Access & Participation), Student Inclusion Consultants, the Centre for Quality, Support and Development and Student Outcomes. This group can review data, discuss strategies for addressing awarding gaps and advise on the content of related action plans.
It may be more appropriate to conduct an informal version of this meeting first. An agenda template is provided.
Contact Mathew Haine for more information (m.l.b.haine@reading.ac.uk).
Awarding Gap Training Workshops: “Practical Steps for Closing Awarding Gaps”
The ‘Practical Steps for Closing Awarding Gap’ workshop series is an opportunity for any staff member – both academic and professional services – to gain an overview of institutional data, discuss potential causes of awarding gaps, and explore ways to support the agenda in their individual work context.
This workshop is run at several intervals throughout the academic year. Please visit UoR Learn to book a place.
“It was so insightful to learn about the work being undertaken to close awarding gaps and to have some dedicated time to think about what more needs to be done. It was a real privilege to work with students experiencing the issues first-hand, to hear their thoughts on what we could be doing differently.”
Practical Steps Participant, 2023
Decolonising the Curriculum
The process of decolonisation is essential for fostering belonging and ensuring our students feel represented in the curriculum, and is therefore an important focus of Reading’s closing the awarding gap strategy.
Since January 2022, the Decolonising the Curriculum Working Group, chaired by Professor Al Laville, Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, has been creating an institutional vision for DtC and a toolkit to support colleagues in this process. The toolkit is comprised of resource booklets relating to different areas of DtC. These resources have been brought together following extensive consultation with students and colleagues including UoR’s panel of Inclusion Consultants, who have played a big role in supporting and feeding into this work.
- Resource one.
- Resource two.
- See also one of UoR’s student-led zines – Road to Unity: Issue 1 Decolonising the Curriculum.
If you have any feedback about the DtC toolkit or would like to be a participate in evaluating its effectiveness, you can contact diversity@reading.ac.uk.
The Curriculum Framework
The University’s Curriculum Framework:
- articulates the distinctiveness of the curriculum and the skills and attributes of the Reading graduate, whilst recognising the primacy of the discipline;
- establishes a set of academic principles upon which our curriculum is based; and
- defines a set of pedagogic principles which underpin our curriculum.
Programmes are designed and delivered to ensure all students can access and actively engage in their blended learning opportunities through student-centred and inclusive approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. Students work in partnership with staff to shape the programme.
For support with integrating the principles of the Curriculum Framework or to learn more about it, please see ‘Awarding Gap Intervention Design Consultations’ section or contact the Centre for Quality Support and Development’s Academic Development and Enhancement team (CQSD-ADE) at CQSDTandL@reading.ac.uk.
Self-assessment resources
In development.