Sources of useful data
Please note: this section of the toolkit was developed in connection with commitments in the Access & Participation Plan (2020-25), which included commitments to address awarding gaps affecting Black British students and students with declared mental health conditions.
A data dashboard showing awarding gaps between male and female undergraduate students over the last 10 years is accessible via the University's Information Hub (Raven login required).
The following tables summarise the data sources that are available to help course coordinators, Departments and/or relevant committees or working group identify the awarding gaps in their particular contexts. Each data source is accompanied by details about what information it includes about students, and how you might interrogate it to gather a full picture.
Cambridge institutional data
There are a number of collections of internal data on the Tableau Server, managed by the Business Information Team and accessible by all staff and students (you must register for access). This is a good starting place to check the awarding gaps by course and by student characteristic over a 5 year period.
| Source | Data | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Business Information Team – Student Statistics | Total number of undergraduate students by year, by:
| Do the number of students in each of the prioritized categories remain consistent from year to year for your course? Is there evidence of students from particular groups moving out of the Tripos into other Triposes? |
| Business Information Team – Student Statistics | Total number of undergraduate students by course by year, by:
| Do students from particular groups tend to take certain courses within the Department/Faculty? Is there evidence of students from particular groups moving out of certain courses into others? |
| Exam Results Analytics - Tableau | Assessment results across years of study by course, classification and student characteristic:
| Is there evidence that students from particular groups are awarded first, or 2.I examination result classifications less often than other groups? What does the awarding gap look like at 1st year, 2nd year and 3rd year? (for instance, does the awarding gap remain the same across all years, or does it narrow or broaden? Next questions: why? What is working/not working?) What do the numbers of students in the targeted student cohort look like in 1st year, 2nd year and 3rd year? (for instance, do students migrate out of the course in first year, resulting in a narrow awarding gap in 3rd year?) |
| Student Barometer | Student feedback per calendar year, regarding satisfaction with learning. Can search by course, gender, age group and study level. | Are there any apparent differences in satisfaction with teaching, assessment or other related course learning aspects by diversity characteristic? |
National / sector-wide data sources
| Source | Data | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Heidi Plus | Total number of undergraduate students by area of study, by year, by:
| How do the proportion of students in the wider sector from these protected characteristics compare to the proportion within Cambridge? |
| Heidi Plus | Final-year degree classification by:
| Is there evidence that students in the wider university sector from particular groups are awarded first or 2.I examination result classifications less often than other groups? What does the awarding gap look like in final degree classification compared to the final year at Cambridge? |
Department and course information
| Source | Data | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
Department surveys Course surveys | Feedback in particular relating to:
| Are there any apparent differences in satisfaction with teaching, assessment or related course learning aspects by diversity characteristic? |