Table 1.
Description of outcome (educational performance) and predictor (contextual factors) variables
| Variables | Description |
|---|---|
| Outcome variables | |
| Year 4 performance | Students complete final examinations in year 4 of the medical programme (year 5 is a practical year where students undertake 8 clinical rotations). |
| Predictor variables | |
| UCAS Tariff Points | UCAS Tariff Points are a system used for allocating points to post-GCSE qualifications in the UK (eg, for A-levels, A=120, B=100, C=80, etc). These were calculated from students’ three highest qualifications and used as a measure of prior achievement for entry to higher education (HE). |
| School type | The type of school students attended for their A-levels were organised into five categories including: independent schools, state grammar schools, state comprehensives, sixth form colleges and a category labelled state other (includes voluntary aided schools, voluntary controlled schools, technical colleges and adults colleges) |
| School performance | School performance data were used to contextualise prior attainment, represented by the overall percentage of students gaining 5A*-E or more at A-levels or their equivalent. Based on this, a binary classification was also created where ‘high’ performing schools, represented those schools where 82.5% of students and above achieved 5A*-E or more at A-level or their equivalent. ‘Low’ performing schools were those where less than 82.5% of students achieved 5A*-E or more at A-level or their equivalent. These thresholds were assigned based on the national averages reported in Department for Education (DfE) performance tables†. |
| ‘Neighbourhood’ domicile: higher education participation rate (POLAR 3) | POLAR 3 data were matched to the Census Area Statistics (CAS) wards to illustrate the typical HE participation rate within which students were domiciled. POLAR 3 data is reported as five quintiles ordered from ‘1’ (lowest participation -<20%) to ‘5’ (highest participation >60%). A binary classification was created to compare performance of students residing in areas of lowest participation (1 and 2) to others (3,4 and 5). Quintiles 1 and 2 are those areas, which attract additional widening participation funding for each student domiciled within them‡. |
| Multiple deprivation | The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) (2010) was used to identify the multiple facets of total deprivation. Students’ postcodes were matched to Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs), which contain an average of 1500 households. These were then used to append IMD scores provided that students had a valid English home postcode. There are 32 482 LSOAs in England. IMD ranks LSOA with 1 as most deprived and 32 482 as least deprived. For the analyses, ranks were divided into quintiles, where quintile 1 includes the most deprived LSOA and quintile 5 includes the least deprived.§ |
| Sex/ethnicity | Sex was self-reported by students during the university application process. Ethnicity was also self-reported by students, and based on this, categorised as one of the following: White, Asian, Black, Chinese, Mixed and Other |