Equity of access to higher education is a policy priority for the HEA. This commitment to equity of access is embedded in the Strategic Action Plan for Equity of Access, Participation and Success 2022–2028 (‘the National Access Plan’). The Plan builds on the vision of previous plans for a more inclusive and diverse student population in higher education. Access to higher education should be independent of socio-economic background, ethnicity, gender, geographical location, disability or other circumstances. The Plan’s ambition is that the student body entering, participating in, and completing higher education will reflect the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s population and that higher education institutions are inclusive, universally designed environments which support and foster student success and outcomes, and are responsive to the needs of students and wider communities.

The National Access Plan is underpinned by six student-centred goals – Inclusivity, Flexibility, Clarity, Coherence and Sustainability, all of which are reinforced by an Evidence-Driven Approach. Objectives 6.1 and 6.2 in the Plan focus on the development of an evidence base for inclusive access, participation and success to inform future policy planning as well as the evaluation and monitoring of the impact of access and inclusion initiatives. A crucial component of these objectives is the linking of data across various education datasets in Ireland.

The HEA Statistics Unit supports the work of Access Policy in analysing data on priority group students and measuring progress in the delivery of the goals of the National Access Plan. Detailed data has already been produced by the HEA on socio-economic disadvantage, through the calculation of Deprivation Index Scores (DIS), which takes account of the relative affluence or disadvantage of the area in which the student lives.  Other data has also been produced on disability in HEA statistics, including profiles of students with a disability, and graduate outcomes for graduates with a disability.

This latest report is the result of a collaborative project conducting data analysis on SUSI Student Grant recipients and examining the student life cycle, from entry to post-graduation outcomes, from the lens of grant status. With four separate analyses, this report aims to improve the capture and policy-relevant analysis of information to inform critical thinking and decision making within the tertiary education setting. These analyses will enrich existing SUSI data, addressing the current limitations in range, by linking it with the HEA’s Student Records System (SRS), Equal Access Survey (EAS) and Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS). This data will also assist higher education institutions and higher education access schemes (such as the HEAR and DARE schemes) by providing a new suite of data to inform decision making.

For policymakers and as part of the whole-of-Government approach set out in the National Access Plan, these analyses will aid with the consideration of further policy interventions or approaches that may be required to support students who are underrepresented in higher education. Furthermore, in 2025, a mid-term review of the National Access Plan will be carried out to allow for further consideration of target and indicator refinement, taking account of the outcomes of a second Data Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education and enhanced data sources.