Data sharing Data sharing between schools/colleges and universities Sharing sexuality and gender identity data Over a quarter of applicants identified themselves as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Over one in four (42%) applicants would give consent for their school/college to Queer, Pansexual, Asexual, or Non-Binary (27%). The proportion of this group share any data with their university, and 38% would give consent to share some willing to share this information with their university has increased from just over information. There were no significant differences in this figure between half in 2023 to two-thirds this year. This might reflect a greater confidence in higher demographic groups. education as an inclusive sector. Nonetheless, it still implies that some applicants Just over half of applicants (53%) assume that schools and colleges regularly share are choosing not to share this information, meaning data collected by UCAS safeguarding information with universities, with a similar proportion believing they underrepresents diversity within the cohort. share information about mental health conditions, disabilities and reasonable adjustments. While safeguarding data is rarely shared in practice, these assumptions Sharing disability data suggest that there is already a broad acceptance for data sharing between schools/ For those with disabilities (41% of the cohort), the proportion of those who have colleges and universities. already informed their university has dropped slightly since 2023, from 56% to 52%. The percentage of those who do not intend to share this information at all has risen slightly from 18% to 20%. Unite Students | Applicant Index Report 40