Since 2003 there has been a significant ethnicity awarding gap in UK higher education.

The government requires universities to monitor the difference in outcomes for all students that complete their studies. This monitoring is done through collecting data on ethnicity, and comparing the types of degree awards between white, Black and Asian students.

A degree awarding gap between two or more groups means that there is a disproportionately unequal outcome between these groups. Even though there have been many initiatives, there has been little to no progress on reducing the achievement gap between white students (who have better success outcomes) and Black students (who have consistently poorer outcomes) according to Advance HE (2021).

It’s been further found that institutions with the most ethnically diverse student body, actually have the largest awarding gaps.