Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students

We are committed to providing space for our Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic students who feel they would benefit from additional support.

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students

In 2019, UCL acknowledged the deep-rooted presence of racism in society, including within education, with the following statement: 

““Action for race equality exists because racism exists in our daily lives, our institutions and society at large. Racism in the UK is the exercise of historic power relations that produce discrimination and is ideologically driven. It means students and staff who identify and are identified as part of the white ethnic majority enjoy a position of relative and typically unspoken and unacknowledged privilege over Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students and staff. Racism manifests at work, in student attainment, staff appointments and promotions. Racism must be fought by everyone. This statement names the challenge".

Analysis of UCL data reveals a statistically significant discrepancy in the proportion of good degrees (First or 2:1) awarded to UK-domiciled Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic students compared to their White peers. This disparity exists despite both groups entering the university with similarly high entry qualifications. Commonly referred to as the "awarding gap," this issue is not unique to UCL but is a persistent and widespread challenge across the UK higher education sector.

In response, UCL launched the BAME Awarding Gap Project in 2017, demonstrating its commitment to addressing and ultimately eliminating this inequality. The university systematically collects and reports data on the awarding gap to the Office for Students (OfS), with its strategies and interventions detailed in our institutional UCL Access and Participation Plan.

As of 2023, the overall awarding gap between Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students and White students at UCL stood at approximately 3%, although this figure varies from year to year. Notably, the gap between UK-domiciled Black students and their White counterparts was significantly wider, at 7.1%. UCL acknowledges that these disparities reflect broader social and educational inequalities in the UK, where systemic disadvantages continue to affect students from Black heritage backgrounds disproportionately. The university recognises that higher education often mirrors these societal inequities, reinforcing the urgency of sustained and targeted action.

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Students are more likely to experience the following experiences and barriers:

• Exposure and impact of racism. Students are more likely to encounter or experiences of overt racism, microaggressions and structural and system discrimination or inequalities. 
• A lack of belonging.  Belonging involves feeling accepted, valued, and supported in the academic environment (Goodenow 1993).  A lack of belonging can impact student well-being, engagement and overall outcomes.
• Lack of ‘safe’ or 'brave' spaces. Safe spaces are environments where students feel secure enough to express themselves, take intellectual and emotional risks, and engage in difficult conversations without fear of judgment or psychological harm. These spaces are especially important for students marginalised ethnic backgrounds. However, some argue that institutions, including universities - shaped by broader societal structures -can never be truly "safe." Instead, they advocate for the concept of brave spaces: environments where discomfort is acknowledged as part of growth, and where students are encouraged to speak openly, challenge ideas, and navigate difficult dialogues with mutual respect and support.
• Underrepresentation in all places and spaces including the curriculum content, peer groups, academic and professional services staff.
• Pressure to assimilate. Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic students may often feel pressure to conform to Eurocentric norms within academic environments. This can manifest through practices such as code-switching - the act of adjusting one’s language, behaviour, or appearance to align with dominant cultural expectations. While code-switching can serve as a coping mechanism or survival strategy in educational settings, it can also be mentally and emotionally exhausting. When it becomes a constant or expected behaviour, it may contribute to feelings of inauthenticity, stress, and exclusion, ultimately impacting students’ well-being and sense of belonging.

Student Success Office Interventions

• Black@UCL - A tailored programme to increase belonging for UK Black heritage students. 

• Writing Retreat - Delivered in collaboration with the Academic Communication Centre, the writing retreat offers a structured, supportive environment to succeed in academic writing skills.

• UCL Department of Information Studies Summer School Programme - A summer programme for UCL students of Black heritage organised and delivered by the UCL Department of Information Studies, funded by the Student Success Office. The aim of the summer school is to introduce students to a range of technical disciplines, helping to bridge the digital skills gap and promote diversity in technology-related fields, e.g programming, databases, cyber security, data science and academic writing.

• BAME Awarding Gap Project - Before expanding our remit to include a broader range of underrepresented groups, the UCL Student Success Office focused on supporting the BAME Awarding Gap Project. We worked closely with Faculty BAME Awarding Gap Leads to develop and implement targeted interventions. You can read more about this work in our "Implementing Intervention: Reflections from the BAME Faculty Leads" report.