Wonkhe SUs · The 2026 webinar box set
Race, racism and awarding gaps
Plenty of SU officers have manifesto commitments on curriculum decolonisation, tackling the awarding gap and addressing racial harassment.
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This session introduces the key issues, policy considerations, and where to find the data that matters on access and participation. There is also an opportunity to hear about some of the practice from around the sector. Please note: this session discusses racism and racial harassment.
What we cover
- The awarding gap is stubborn – the black awarding gap has barely moved since 2018/19, 7 TEF gold-rated institutions have black awarding gaps over 25 percentage points, and the Feb 2026 HEPI report (Dr Catherine Hubbard) finds racial equity is still not treated as a strategic priority
- Language matters – the shift from "attainment gap" to "awarding gap" reflects that this is an institutional issue, not a student deficit; similarly many are moving away from "BAME" to terms like "global majority" or "racialised communities"
- Disaggregate the data – breaking statistics down by specific ethnicities, subjects and intersecting characteristics (race + gender, race + disability) reveals hidden disparities and enables targeted interventions
- The pandemic paradox – the gap narrowed during COVID under "no detriment" policies, but widened again once those compassionate measures (and a grade-inflation crackdown) removed them
- Experience gaps matter too – beyond grades, racialised students report less culturally sensitive curricula, less inclusive classroom interactions, conditional belonging and barriers to mental health support
- Representation is lacking – academic staff are overwhelmingly white and retention of racialised staff is poor; a student can complete an entire degree without being taught by an academic of colour while the institution stays TEF gold
- Digital inequity compounds the problem – 47% of international students and 44–47% of Asian/Black British students report learning problems from lack of a suitable device, compared to 34% overall (Digital Experience Insights Survey 2022-23)
- Accountability drives change – own the work with a dedicated full-time role, use Access and Participation Plans and data (quantitative and qualitative) to hold the institution to account
- Allyship is essential – white staff and students need to lead conversations about race rather than leaving the burden on racialised communities, and get comfortable being uncomfortable
- Find your champions – secure senior leadership/SLT buy-in, build coalitions with willing allies, and interrogate vehicles like the Race Equality Charter and APPs for whether they drive real change
Things to read
- Race and racism in HE on Wonkhe – full archive
- Causes and consequences of access disparities by ethnicity
- Polling and practice from UUK on students' experiences of racial harassment
- A manifesto for Black mental health should matter to HE
- Do students recognise racism as "harassment"?
- Explainer: Racism on campus and social norming
- What are universities doing to close degree awarding gaps?
- The crackdown on grade inflation has hit students of colour harder than white students
- It's time to tackle all the gaps that surface in our student lifecycle data, not just the awarding gap
- Something is going very wrong with the awarding gap for first class degrees
- How do we really create inclusive spaces for BAME staff and students?
- To make progress on the awarding gap we must also address the belonging gap
- It's time to decolonise the awarding gap
- Decolonising the curriculum hasn't closed the gap between Black and white students – here's what might
- Black and Asian students experience the curriculum as less culturally sensitive
- Tackling racial harassment in higher education
- Racism on campus – the role of SUs
- What is Critical Race Theory and what has it got to do with universities?
- Racial harassment at UK universities – summarising the report
- Are parts of HE turning a blind eye to racism?
- Race and racism in student halls
- International students are facing racism on campus
- Does student engagement work engage BAME students? (not really)
- A desire to belong – ethnic minority students' lived experience of being a PGR
- Supporting evidence-based action on racial inequality is not "wokery"
- Agreeing on how to address racial inequality in higher education
- Wonkhe briefings for SUs – Equality, diversity & inclusion