The vocational/academic divide in widening participation: the higher education decision making of further education students

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite the shift from an elite to a mass higher education (HE) system in the UK, participation between students with Business Technology Education Council (BTEC) and Advanced-Level (A-level) qualifications remains unequal. The data presented here is taken from a longitudinal narrative inquiry funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The study aimed to understand the reasons, influences, experiences and enabling and constraining factors that informed further education (FE) students’ HE decision making and choices. Qualitative data was gathered using a combination of interviews, focus groups, paper and audio diaries with 13 FE students in England over an 18-month period, studying on either BTEC Level 3 or A-Level courses. Inequalities between the HE decisions and choices of BTEC and A-Level students emerged early on in their decision-making journeys. A-Level students had the advantage of being targeted and involved in national and local outreach initiatives, which allowed them to bypass financial constraints, and were provided with crucial opportunities to establish a sense of ‘place’ in higher education institutions (HEIs) as a result. The same financial constraints served to limit BTEC students’ choices, and restricted their opportunities to establish the same sense of ‘place’. Implications for policy as well as outreach and widening participation (WP) practices to work towards redressing these inequalities are proposed and discussed.