Inequalities in the educational achievement of minoritised students in higher education (HE) appear in a wide range of national contexts (Richardson, 2018), and are often attributed to structural inequalities. In the UK, research literature and public records alike point to persistent inequities before, during and after university life for students of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. Previous education and socioeconomic status may affect attainment in HE (Smith, 2017). However, when factors such as age and entry qualifications are controlled for, the attainment gap still exists, pointing to the role of students’ experiences of the curriculum, teaching, learning or assessment (Smith, 2017; Richardson, 2015) in the outcomes they achieve.
This study, supported by ½¿É«µ¼º½â€™s Small Grants Fund (SGF), stems from an acknowledgement that the experiences of Black students in HE in the UK have been under-researched and under-theorised. In the study, a cohort of 20 students from various disciplines within a single HE institution participated in semistructured interviews exploring their experiences of academic support. The results highlight that renewed focus is required on how curriculum design, teaching methods and assessment may affect how Black students succeed in their studies.