Equality & Diversity Report 2024

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It sets out the different ways in which it’s unlawful to treat someone.

The College collects data from all staff and learners. Learners are asked to complete this information at enrolment, and for the first time in the summer of 2023 collected 100% of the Learners protected characteristics.

Staff are asked to complete their equality monitoring data at the point of employment, during the onboarding process. An online system is utilised to collect this data, and it is done on a voluntary basis. Completion rates are currently lower than target and various methods have been initiated to encourage more of our staff to record their information. Most recently rates were improved via digital
communication, which resulted in a marginal increase in terms of completion rates. Maximising the collection of this dataset will help us better understand the needs of our workforce. Further plans for 2023/24 are being developed with the aim of achieving a target of more than 85% of our workforce.

Gender Assigned at Birth

Gender Trend Table

Analysis of gender data above demonstrates a fall in total headcount since 2020/21 and a slight
increase of female staff, from 59% to 62%. This is slightly above national levels, as reported by the EWC but largely reflects the national picture.

Action:
Promote shared parental leave and all family friendly policies to all staff
Action:
Show how gender inequality affects everyone, not just women through policy making and
recruitment best practice

Age Profile Trend Table

The age profile of the workforce is fairly static, with minor changes demonstrated since 2020/21.
As can be seen in most FE institutions, the largest represented age group is over 50, with 45% within the 50-59, 60-69 and over 70 brackets.

Action:
Consider methods to encourage younger workers to join the workforce and enable a more strategic approach to workforce planning, for example, by introducing an apprenticeship programme
Action:
Following the implementation of the Menopause policy, raise awareness of its content and provide
opportunities for people to share their experiences across the college
Action:
Design, develop and implement a Retirement Policy for all staff at the College

Ethnic Origin Profile

Whilst there is a considerable difference between ethnic background data on an all Wales basis, the college data reflects census data for both counties combined.

The college has made a commitment to working on Anti Racist initiatives and is actively developing actions based around improving ethnic diversity within the institution.

Action:
Engage with community groups to promote the College and its employer brand

Sexual Orientation Profile Table

This data set again clearly highlights the need for the College to address issues of non completion of data and will drive action in 2023/24.

Action:
Set up an LGBTQ+ network for staff at the College and support them to create wellbeing initiatives
for the community.

Religion Profile Table

The majority of those who provided a response reported their religion as Christian, with 27%. 19.6% of respondents reported no religion.

The College is committed to welcome staff and learners from all religions and can provide dedicated spaces for prayer to support those who need it.

Action:
Create multi faith spaces for people to use

Action:
Communicate the College’s message of support for all faiths and religions

Disability Profile Table

The College has undertaken a number of measures to improve the experience of staff who have a disability. For example, the College is committed to being Disability Confident by actively engaging in initiatives such as ensuring our recruitment activities are as inclusive and accessible as possible, supporting employees to stay in work by proactively making reasonable adjustments and engaging with external agencies in order to provide work experience, placement opportunities and employment for people who have disabilities.

Action:
Promote the College’s Disability Confident status both internally and externally.

Welsh Language Proficiency Table

Staff are asked to complete or update an ongoing online self-assessment on the level of their Welsh language skills. The total number of staff as at 31.07.2023 was 754, which includes teaching, managerial and support staff. 42 members of staff did not complete the assessment, many of these being fractional staff or guest lecturers who may only be contracted for one day. The data on these has not been included in the information below.

Overall Success for Coleg Sir Gar / Coleg Ceredigion

Note:
All activities refer to every qualification/award entry.

Gender

Over the three year trend learners who identify as Male are slightly outperforming females across the College, this is different to the picture at GCSE level where learners who identify as female outperform male counterparts ( data from Equality and Human Rights Commision).

However, learners who identify as others have typically not performed as well, however this has improved by 4.9% points last year. This trend also goes against the Welsh Government analysis that Men are less likely than woman to hold any formal qualifications. The increase in success identifying as ‘other’ could be attributed to a focus we brought in which has included a number of activities and enrichment opportunities including a LGBTQ+ society where learners can meet, connect and build
new relationships with other learners. The Student Union also has a LGBTQ+ officer.

Action:
• Update the Transgender policy
• Continue to celebrate the LGBTQ+ awareness and celebration events
• Develop a training programme for staff on sexual orientation and identities

Age

In 2022/2023 nearly all of the age categories displayed an increase in success from 21/22 except those between the age 25-49, with notably the 18 and under age group showing a 6% increase to 78.2%, and above the success from 20/21.

Consistently learners between 19-24 have been under the College average. Furthermore, the 25 to 49 age group experienced a noticeable improvement in success rates from 68.0% in 2020/2021 to 75.6% in 2022/2023, indicating a positive shift in educational outcomes for individuals within this age bracket.

On the whole older learners are starting to achieve consistently at the same levels of younger learners, after seeing a decrease during the heart of the pandemic, where we know learners who also had outside commitments ( families and work) found managing education as well challenging.

However, it is essential to continue monitoring and understanding the factors contributing to the variations in success rates to further enhance the learning experience and outcomes for all age groups.

Action:

• To continue to develop and embed a dashboard which is monitored by staff, which is able to monitor KPI by protected characteristics.

ALN: Disability

Learners who have declared as having a disability at enrolment have mostly outperformed by 4.7% to those that have not declared a disability for 22/23. Success for learners with ALN also rose by 6.8% from 21/22 this could be due to many learners with complex learning needs finding the changing educational circumstances enforced by COVID-19 difficult to manage, however this would be in line with the national picture and was just slightly under the College success data.

The continued success of learners with ALN in Coleg Sir Gar / College Ceredigion can be attributed to the excellent additional and universal learning provision provided within the College. This provision is from transition to progression, with various aspects highlighted as good practice during the latest ESTYN inspection in 2022.

To further improve this already excellent picture the College is working to ensure that ALN is everyone’s responsibility working in a person centred way ensuring that wherever reasonable adjustments are embedded into every day practices, with this being a theme of Professional development for 2023/2024.

Action:

• Continue raising awareness that ALN is Everyone’s responsibility.
• Ensure all learners complete ALN Questionnaires at induction.
• ALN team to continue to deliver CPD sessions on Reasonable Adjustments.

Ethnicity

In 2022/ 2023 learners who identify as Black, Asian, Mixed or other - 6.1% of all learners have not been as successful as learners who identify as white.

Last year did not see any identifiable ethnic group red,however learners who identity as Asian, mixed and other all slightly decreased in success from 21/22. However learners who identify as black or unknown have both seen success improved with Black learners success having increased by 18.9%.

Some of this success can be attributed to the College’s commitment to being an Anti Racist College, where we have completed our Self Assessment and are working on three priority areas: Confidence, Commitment and Implementation. There is also significant work that has gone on with the College Tutorial.

Action:

• To further enhance all of the College community’s confidence on understanding what being an Anti Racist College.
• Ensure all multi faith prayer rooms are adequately signposted.
• Continue to celebrate the diverse range of religious faiths across the calendar
• Continue to foster conversations with learners who identify as Black, Asian, mixed or other based on their lived experiences and what we can do to support them.
• Implement inclusive practices across all activities, ensuring that support services, resources, and teaching approaches consider the diverse needs of learners from different ethnic backgrounds.

Demographic: Deprivation

In 22/23 learners who live within the most deprived areas of our region showed a 4.9% increase from the previous year. Which is especially pleasing with the current poverty crisis.

Our initiatives to support those in most need has also seen us support the below initiatives with learners who qualify for EMA also able to access the Financial Contingency Fund. Learners have been able to access funding to support :

• Childcare
• Equipment to complete their course.
• Transport
• Costs such as DBS / Studio Fees
• Lunch allowance (new for 22/23)

Our Lunch allowance was a new category for 22/23 and was developed as a direct response to the poverty agenda and concerns with 350 learners directly benefiting. This has seen a huge number of learners then being able to eat in College.

The student union also helped support learners with a Participatory budgeting project where learners could bif for money from the Student Union to improve the learners wellbeing within the College. Successful projects have included:

• Outdoor Cinema
• Polytunnel for a communal garden
• Campus sports equipment and kit
• Toiletries on campus

Data Collection:

All Students Protected Characteristics are now automatically collected at enrolment, new EBS systems will over time allow us to have live data which will allow us to delve deeper into the data and make reasonable adjustments and changes to curriculum, support and systems according to what our key performance data is telling us. Although the live data is not yet currently in the Course review and Performance review boards the support functions of the college are now part of these discussions which allows for good discussions on learners’ needs which allows them to thrive.

Staff data collection has improved significantly with all staff now disclosing their ethnicity data. A new staff system is currently being researched which will allow the staff systems to align for the entire staff journey.

Better Understanding the Needs of our Community and understand the barriers they face to thrive

Key Action:

To continue to work with the IT development team who are developing new systems, to ensure the systems are able to better use the date we collect to ensure we can make changes when trends are identified.

The College has recently been through a recruitment process for governors and 4 governors which represents 40% of the board have been appointed from diverse areas of our region.

The college has been successful in becoming a Time to Talk college in January 2023, as part of our commitment all of the college management teams had an opportunity to complete a Mental Health course for managers, whilst all learners completed various topics in their tutorial to increase resilience. The College was also recognised as being a Disability Confident Employer. 18 new or existing policies and procedures have also been through a robust Equality Impact Assessment process.

The College has signed up to become an Anti Racist College, and has completed a self evaluation into where it currently is. Three priorities have been agreed for this year which are Confidence, Commitment and Action. The College is working with staff, learners and local partners to understand current stakeholders views on areas the College can improve as it strives to be truly anti racist.

To support staff and learners the College is working with Apex educate in providing support and guidance. To reduce the inequalities within our organisation

Key Action:
For all managers developing policies to undertake CPD on completing Equality Impact Assessments.

The College is becoming Trauma Informed and having completed the self evaluation is now working on an agreed 5 year CPD plan for the whole College, this has already seen 26 staff completing the train the trainer course, and piloting this approach within 3 areas - teaching, functional and support
areas.

The learner code of conduct and positive behaviour plan have been amended to ensure they are Trauma Informed but also to include reference to bullying and harassment. The staff policies have also been done recently.

The Additional Learning Needs (ALN ) offer ( Additional Provision and Universal provision ) has been updated and the College has accepted its first IDP in September 2023. 

Key Action:
To work with staff and learner voice data and identify whether we have a need for a self reporting tool or system to report on discrimination of any form.

We are committed to creating an environment where diversity is celebrated and everyone is treated fairly, regardless of gender, gender identity, disability, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital or transgender status, age, or nationality.

We are committed to providing a trans-inclusive environment for all our staff, students, partners and visitors, which supports trans, non-binary and people with other identities. We will achieve this through continually reviewing our policies and the guidance and training we provide.

This starts from the moment you apply for a job with the College, through the recruitment process and then when you commence employment. You’ll undergo a comprehensive induction process which includes mandatory training on equality, diversity and inclusion. Its really important to us that all staff are able to understand and recognise our ethos of inclusion from the beginning to end of their employment journey.

Key Action:
Reducing the Gender Pay Gap.

The College has created a webpage which celebrates publicly its actions, awards and recognition in being an inclusive College. The College wellbeing and HR teams are also working collaboratively on a joint calendar of events on recurring themes events which have already included events and activities which have included Black History Month, Anti Racism roundtable, Time To Talk day , World Menopause month, International Day of Disabled Persons, LGBTQ+ month, with International Woman’s day and Neurodiversity Celebration week planned for the coming months.

On writing the new Positive Behaviour Policy a key driver was to ensure that we incorporated reasonable adjustments for all stakeholders into the process , which was then embedded across the College. To support staff with this aim the ALN team have carried out Reasonable adjustments CPD to the whole College and bespoke training where necessary.

Key Action:
To continue to better understand the needs of our community and offer bespoke CPD on these
needs.