The evidence for higher education access and support arrangements is considered with the basis for a reliable conclusion and the limits beyond which it must not extend.
Scope and application of higher education access and support arrangements
For higher education access and support arrangements, the relevant outcome should be capable of direct and consistent explanation.
Application to higher education access and support arrangements
Evidence concerning higher education access and support arrangements should be relevant to the stated requirement, sufficiently complete for the affected scope, current for the decision period and attributable to a source with knowledge or control of the matter. Volume does not cure a gap in relevance.
Controls for higher education access and support arrangements
Material concerns include aggregate gains concealing excluded groups, attrition detected too late, financial or geographic barriers, and admission without adequate support. Review should consider whether an exception is prolonged, recurring or capable of affecting learners outside the cases examined.
Relevant evidence for the conclusion will normally include progression and early-warning information, disaggregated participation and outcome data, records of barriers and support, evaluation of interventions, and resource allocation by need. Across the defined scope, currency, provenance and representativeness should be established before evidence is used for assurance. For higher education access and support arrangements, contradictory evidence should be investigated and resolved, not omitted from the record.
Review of higher education access and support arrangements
Review of the control should define the proposition to be established, identify the minimum combination of records, test authenticity and reconcile contradictions. In the context of higher education access and support arrangements, expand the sample where an exception, complaint or material unexplained variation indicates that the initial evidence may not be representative.
Implications for higher education access and support arrangements
For the conclusion, the volume of documentation is not a measure of conformity.
For higher education access and support arrangements, decisions concerning the matter should remain traceable to the information available for the stated reference period. Across the defined scope, changes in condition, evidence, method and interpretation should be recorded separately when a conclusion is revised.
No individual measure is sufficient to establish effective operation of the applicable expectation across the affected scope.
In examining higher education access and support arrangements: what constitutes adequate evidence, education systems should examine not only who enters education, but who can participate effectively, progress and complete with the intended learning outcomes.
Assurance concerning higher education access and support arrangements should be expressed at the level established by the evidence.
Equal treatment does not necessarily produce equitable access or outcomes.
Failure in relation to higher education access and support arrangements may arise even where the stated policy is reasonable.