ABSTRACT
The reactions of research participants to student grouping varied considerably. Student grouping was thought to occur because of a general lack of awareness among people of how exclusion operates, how it affects people and because some students appeared to have issues with people's skin colour. The impact student grouping had on the education of the research participants who perceived it as problematic was not always obvious, which might relate to it being a social rather than an education observation. Student experience teams and support services are expected to develop holistic action plans that consider the whole student cycle and relate to all seven diversity strands, as outlined by the Equality Challenge Unit when designing intervention to address social ills. If ethnic attainment differences are to be addressed through absolute non-comparative standards in education, social interventions in university education prove counterproductive because they undermine the educational ideals of a university education.
