Equality and Diversity

Equity is the driving force behind our ambition to be a world-leading centre of excellence in creative learning and vocational training.

Our 2023–2026 Strategic Plan placed equity at the heart of our institutional mission, recognising that true excellence can only be achieved in an environment where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. That is why equity is one of our six strategic pillars, shaping our aspirations and actions.

This inaugural Annual Equity Report is a testament to the progress we have made so far. It celebrates the transformative work taking place across LIPA, from policy reform and curriculum innovation to community partnerships and the evolution of our brand identity. Each initiative reflects our deep and ongoing commitment to embedding inclusivity at every level of the institution.

The report offers a snapshot of the impact our students, staff, and wider community are making. It is by no means exhaustive, but it does illustrate the passion, creativity, and determination with which equity is being championed across LIPA. I am deeply grateful to everyone contributing to this vital work.

We know that achieving equity is not a destination. We understand that it is a journey. We are proud of our progress, and we are equally clear-eyed about where more needs to be done. Transparency and accountability are central to our approach, ensuring that we learn, adapt, and improve continuously.

As we look ahead, we remain committed to building on our successes, learning from our challenges, and continuing to create meaningful, lasting change for the benefit of all.

Sean

Professor Sean McNamara

Principal & CEO

Our equality, diversity and inclusion vision is that equity is in our DNA as a ‘golden thread’ running through, and central to, how we operate. We are committed to advancing, cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, inclusion and belonging.

We believe in developing strong relationships within the creative arts sector and the communities in which we work because it makes us stronger. This directly aligns with our mission to inspire, enable and empower the creatives of the future to secure sustained employment. We do this by listening to our staff, our students and the wider community and learning from what we hear.

To achieve that goal, we identified the following actions:

• Strengthen our approaches to equitable and inclusive recruitment, retention and development of students, especially those from groups under represented in higher education and vocational training
• Develop a recruitment strategy and processes to encourage representation within the staff body that reflects our communities
• Develop training opportunities for students and staff
• Embed equity and inclusion into the learning environment, curriculum, and teaching practices
• Review staff roles and structures at all levels to provide progression and developmental opportunities
• Improve appraisal processes
• Develop strategies to increase applications for the ‘making performance possible’ programmes.

Strategic aim & progress

To establish, enact and communicate organisational systems, structures, policies and processes that mobilise and sustain ED&I commitments and resources through leadership, governance and accountability.

Key milestones

• Established foundational structures including an EDI Sub-Committee that reports to Council ensuring institutional accountability and a dedicated budget for equity-driven initiatives
• Demonstrated a commitment to data-driven decision making by introducing new annual reporting of EDI-related student data to Institute Quality Committee (IQC), covering global majority, disability, and LGBTQ+ representation. EDI progress will also be monitored by our new student record system, TechnologyOne
• Strengthened the student voice through social media campaigns, showcasing the lived experiences of LIPA’s diverse community
• Integrated EDI considerations into key areas of policy and process development and delivery across LIPA. EDI considerations inform course validation and new course proposals; training modules provided to new and returning students at inductions; and policy design and communication reflecting the needs of minority students.

• Ensuring that our initiatives are sustained, deeply embedded and continuously monitored to drive long-term change
• Strengthening qualitative data collection (e.g. Equality Impact Assessments) to complement quantitative measures and provide richer insights
• Addressing accessibility challenges, particularly within two listed buildings where physical spaces require adaptation
• Further amplifying underrepresented voices in decision-making through Student Voice and governance structures.

Strategic aim & progress

To enhance, innovate and develop continuously: embed equity and inclusion into the curriculum and our teaching and learning practices, in a manner that exemplifies inclusive excellence.

Key milestones

Across our three Schools we have implemented curriculum and pedagogical interventions aligned with our Equity Strategy. These have included:

• Enhanced the range of voices present across the curriculum, through the appointment of visiting professionals, selection of performance works, and the embedding of intersectional perspectives in reading lists
• Engaged with grassroots (rather than top-down) practices and methods to empower new voices and perspectives
• Maintained and developed assessment practices that cater to a broad range of learning styles
• Introduced a new programme, BA in Acting (Contemporary Performance) that engages with global voices, cultures and communities
• Supported students to make conscious, empowered decisions about how they bring their complex identities into their own performance practices and projects.

Challenges & priorities

• Increasing diversity in academic reading lists remains a challenge due to the dominance of white male scholarship in certain disciplines
• Balancing the need to diversify performance works while still engaging with material and traditions from the performance canon
• Strengthening differentiated curriculum content and assessment methods for neurodivergent learners
• Ensuring that institutional support networks exist to support students as they experiment within the curriculum.

Strategic aim & progress

To treat everyone with dignity; we make decisions drawing on different perspectives; we involve, listen to, and seek to learn from everyone; we strive to nurture a sense of belonging so everyone can participate.

Key milestones

• Expanded Learning & Development Days to include targeted EDI training, covering topics such as unconscious bias, racial equity, menopause in the music industry, and motherhood & music
• Introduced the Equity Award at our Teaching Excellence and Employee Recognition Awards. The award has gone to Ben Leventhall, Head of Widening Participation and Schools/Colleges Liaison, for ‘always acting in the interests of equity of experience for all’ and Cherise Weaver, Head of EDI, for her ‘massive impact’ in bringing ‘positive change within the curriculum and the building’
• Enhanced internal communication to build a shared culture of inclusion using Welcome Back meetings, newsletters and regular staff updates
• Celebrated key cultural moments and milestones in the LIPA foyer and elsewhere, fostering community-wider engagement.

• Increasing staff engagement in training and ensuring agile, needs-driven learning and wellbeing provision that meets the diverse needs of LIPA staff
• Shifting from top-down communications to community-driven initiatives, promoting greater grassroots engagement in EDI work
• Building a more proactive and supportive HR presence to strengthen the employee journey from application, through on-boarding, to on-going training and development.

To attract and engage a community of learners, creatives, practitioners, professional services and leaders who reflect local, national and international democratic diversity.

Key milestones

• Removed barriers to access for students, such as audition fees, and delivered a wide range of targeted interventions for under-represented groups in higher education, ranging from our intensive Get Set summer school to pre-interview and pre-audition advice phone calls for flagged applicants
• Launched a new institutional brand reflecting EDI principles through inclusive language, imagery and tone of voice
• Enhanced storytelling activities across our website and social media to ensure we reflect the diversity of voices and experiences at LIPA
• Strengthened staff recruitment policies, ensuring fair hiring practices and equitable selection processes. We have introduced an EDI question into interviews to enable candidates to engage with this core institutional mission
• Developed Council Director recruitment processes, which increased the range, diversity and experience of interview candidates and subsequently newly appointed Council Directors in recent recruitment rounds.

Challenges & priorities

• Continuing to diversify our student body, implementing strategies outlined in our Access & Participation Plan
• Increasing diversity among our student ambassadors, who play a crucial role in inspiring future applicants
• Ensuring our new brand identity is used consistently across the institution and we deploy a tone of voice that uses inclusive and clear language
• Identifying more teaching staff resource to support outreach activities with feeder colleges
• Improving staff recruitment targeting to attract a more diverse talent pool beyond word-of-mouth hiring networks. This is crucial because, as a small, specialist institute, we have limited turnover of substantive staff.

To develop a model of public participation that promotes relationship building to create a positive impact in the social and cultural fabric of our local, national and international communities.

Key milestones

• Delivered 100+ visits and workshops across 50 local schools and colleges providing careers advice, raising awareness of higher education and supporting attainment for underrepresented students
• Engaged with key local, national and international cultural events including sponsoring Africa Oyé, performing at Vogue Ball, attending Liverpool Pride March, collaborating with the Black Actors Collective, and hosting Collective Encounters activities for young people from care backgrounds
• Provided strategic leadership and support to collective efforts to improve EDI in Liverpool, working alongside 20 Stories High, Race Equality Hub, and the Creative Music Cluster
• Encouraged students to take active roles in shaping their communities through EDI initiatives, curriculum-based projects, Widening Participation activities, and Student Voice-led campaigns.

Challenges & priorities

• Sustaining long-term impact when resource constraints, particularly staff time, prevents us delivering deeper, more embedded community initiatives
• Maximising the impact of Student Voice which is still evolving and could further integrate into community engagement efforts
• Evaluating activities by compiling richer and more timely data so we can develop comprehensive, institution-wide understanding of activities.

This Annual Equity Report enables us to reflect on our progress and look ahead. We have built strong foundations — creating systems, structures and a culture that enable Equity to become more deeply embedded across LIPA.

We know, however, that equity work is never complete. Progress brings with it the responsibility to go further, to listen more deeply, and to act with purpose.

I am proud of what our community has achieved — and mindful of the challenges we continue to face.

Guided by this report, and shaped by the voices of our students, staff and wider stakeholders, we have identified five priorities:

• Strengthening data and insight to ensure decisions are shaped by evidence and lived experience.
• Amplifying student and staff voice to foster a participatory approach to equity.
• Building capacity and confidence so that equity is a shared responsibility across our community.
• Deepening community engagement through long-term partnerships.
• Sustaining transparency and visibility — celebrating progress and acknowledging challenge.

Equity is not a project — it is a mindset and a shared practice. Together, we will continue to build a culture where everyone at LIPA can belong, thrive and succeed.

Simon

Simon Fowler

Council Director and Chair of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee