*3.2. Overview of Comparative Case Study Programme B: Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) Foundation Year, the University of Oxford*

This subsection explains the University of Oxford admissions context within the wider UK policy landscape and as the backdrop for the development of the LMH FY. In the UK, approximately 93% of A-Level students attend state schools, while the remaining 7% attend independent (fee-paying) schools. Research shows that 30% of state schools have at most one or two students progressing to the prestigious Russell Group universities in the UK, with just 40 schools and colleges providing a quarter of all Oxbridge (Oxbridge is a combined term used in the UK to describe the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge) entrants [34]. The University of Oxford admissions report (2022) shows significant geographical bias to South East England, and the majority of admissions are to students with professional parents [34,35].

Oxford and Cambridge universities have significantly increased their WP activity over the last decade, but this has not had the effect of diversifying its socio-economic intake. Admissions to Oxford are complex, as it is a collegiate university comprising 38 colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls (PPHs) of religious foundation. Every student must be a member of a college or a PPH. Each college is an autonomous, self-governing institution with responsibility for its own admissions. Admissions are carried out in accordance with the Oxford University Common Framework of 2006 [34].

Therefore, admissions decisions are taken at the level of individual colleges and PPHs, each one of which has significant latitude in planning for WP. Some colleges provide for greater flexibility over minimum entry requirements and academic attainment for students from low-SES backgrounds [34].

Lady Margaret Hall, a college of the University of Oxford, partnered with Trinity College Dublin to adapt a year-long intensive academic preparation course (the Foundation Year or FY) to that context. The goal of this project was to increase socio-economic diversity in the University of Oxford and to prove that students from low-SES backgrounds could reach their full academic potential within a well-supported environment. A secondary goal was to scale the pilot project beyond LMH to other colleges within the University of Oxford collegiate structure.

Universities in Ireland and England have developed FY programmes as a way of supporting students to transition into university and to supplement "academic attainment gaps" at second level. These are intended for students without the formal entry qualifications for their chosen degree. They are designed to prepare entrants for degree-level study [35]. FY programmes recognise that the challenges facing low-SES students in HE are complex and focus on the importance of supporting the development of peer relationships, academic skills and a sense of belonging in the university.

In 2016, a group from Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), a college of the University of Oxford, visited Trinity College Dublin (TCD), the most selective higher education institution in Ireland, to explore the potential of adapting the Trinity Access Programme (TAP) Foundation Course to the Oxford context. The TAP Foundation Course (TAP FC) for Higher Education was established in 1997 in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) as a year-long, intensive academic preparation course. It was developed to provide an alternative matriculation into the university for low-SES students who had not reached their academic potential for socio-economic reasons. Progression to the university depended on successfully completing the course and meeting specific academic requirements. The TAP FC provides social and financial supports for these students throughout their time in the University. At the time of LMH's visit to Ireland, TAP had developed a 17-year-long evidence base, with over 90% of TAP FC students successfully progressing to the university and 89% of those who had progressed successfully completing a degree. The positive story of the TAP FC, which had been captured from the outset through research and evaluation, therefore presented a strong model from which to develop a Foundation Year in Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) [35].

The governing body of Lady Margaret Hall articulated a strong desire to widen their admissions to socio-economic groups and areas of the country from which they did not have robust representation. LMH had its historical foundations in taking radical action on admissions, as it was the first women's college within Oxford University; however, developing this kind of alternative entry route was a challenge to the university. It had been agreed by LMH's Governing Body that Foundation Year students would be admitted to the programme on lower academic attainment that those being admitted to first year in the university. The rationale for this was that the Foundation Year would target students from backgrounds where they had not had the opportunity to reach their full academic potential. This approach was considered by some within the university to represent a deviation from the common framework on admissions (Robson et al., 2017). Despite internal challenges in Oxford, in 2016 TCD and LMH established a partnership to adapt the TAP Foundation Course to the Oxford University context as part of a four-year pilot. In the 2016–2017 academic year, within an overall intake of 670 students, 10 Foundation Year students were registered for the inaugural LMH Foundation Year (LMH FY) [35].

The LMH FY is a year-long academic programme consisting of 16 subjects, including a range of sciences and humanities, and students also take a subject-specific course. The students have group teaching that includes the core modules of academic writing and preparation for undergraduate study. Students sit an interview as well as an examination to be considered eligible for the degree course they wish to progress into following the FY. Lectures by guest speakers and educational visits occur throughout the FY and these sessions are shared with undergraduate students. Students on the LMH FY who wish to progress to the University of Oxford for undergraduate study have to go through the standard admissions process for undergraduates, including admissions tests (subjectdependent) and interviews. If they are made an offer, it is conditional on successful completion of the LMH FY to an agreed academic standard. This section has described the key features of the TA21 and LMH FY programs within the CCS. The next section explains the capability approach, which was used as an exploratory lens with the qualitative data from both programs.
