Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with universities on the wide implementation of the Race Equality Charter Mark.

Joseph Johnson

The Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) is a higher education sector body that supports equality and diversity for staff and students across the UK. They developed and launched the Race Equality Charter (REC) in January 2016, with the aim of improving the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students within higher education. Institutions can apply for a Bronze or Silver REC award, depending on their level of progress.

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has set a goal of increasing by 20% the number of BME students in higher education by 2020. In guidance to the Director of Fair Access, which we published on 11 February, we ask him to maximise the contribution of Access Agreements towards this ambition.