The National Access Plan 2022-2028 (NAP) is framed and underpinned by available data from sources such as the Deprivation Index Score (DIS) data, the HEA Student Records System (SRS) and Equal Access Survey (EAS), the Census data and published data from other organisations.
Four overarching targets for the higher education system are set, reflecting some of the priority groups targeted by the plan. These targets as outlined below are challenging but in my view achievable by using a whole of institution - whole of education - whole of Government - whole of community approach.
1. A target of 54% has been set for new entrants from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, up from 42% in the last plan.
2. A target of 20% for new mature entrant from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, up from 11%
3. A target of 16% for students with a disability, up from 12.4%
4. A target of 150 new entrants from the Traveller Community which is up from 33.
A priority group for whom we have only limited data at present is the Roma community in Ireland. However, for the first time, Census 2022 has ‘Roma’ as an option category so we will be able to gather data for the Roma community with a view to developing targets.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) will work with higher education institutions (HEIs) through the strategic dialogue and agreement of compacts process, to support participation by priority group students across the institution and different disciplines and professions. HEIs will report yearly to the HEA on progress against key performance indicators (KPIs) agreed in their compacts. The HEA will report regularly to my department on implementation of the Framework and achievement of its objectives
All targets are set to be reviewed over the lifetime of the plan, more particularly during the Mid Term review process in 2025.
