Michael Hill

The present situation in England (2011 – present)

How we arrived (2003 – 2011)

The future (2013 - ?)

Key issues

Sources of funding specifically aimed at widening access and success include:

HEFCE grants

National Scholarship Programme (NSP)

Access Agreements

£140.4m in 13/14 allocated by student profile to universities to support extra costs of:

Outreach activity to raise aspirations and attainment of under-represented groups

Supporting greater access to HE and improve learning experience of disabled students

Helping students at risk of not completing (as part of teaching enhancement funds)

For new entrants to undergraduate programmes in England

It provides direct financial benefit to individual, eligible students

Each eligible student receives an award of not less than £3,000 This is a one-year benefit.

No more than £1,000 (pro rata) of the overall award is to be provided as a cash bursary

2006 – present Universities must have an Access

Agreement approved by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) if they are to charge more than the minimum fee

A proportion of the additional fee income must be allocated to safeguard access and retention

Proportion can be between 10% and 30%

For HEFCE: Every university writes and reports on a

Widening Participation Strategic Assessment (WPSA)

For OFFA: Every university (if they charge over £6,000

per annum) reports on the spend and impact of the Access Agreement

HEFCE grant - yes Access Agreement – yes (from 2006) NSP – no

But included specifically funded partnership work :

Aimhigher 2003 – 2011 Lifelong Learning networks 2004 – 2012

HEFCE grant under threat

NSP – finishing in 2015 – replaced by emphasis on postgraduate WP bursaries

Probable reintroduction of regional outreach partnerships – no specific funding – must come from universities

National strategy from 2014 – to bring together single reporting of impact and funding

Access

Admissions

Retention and Success

Sustainability

Access - recognition of different approaches amongst universities◦ For some might be a major part of their

recruitment - for others might be their “contribution” to the national picture. Both need robust means of targeting and evaluating and needs to be efficient for the university and schools

◦ Advantages of partnerships are clear but take time, trust and funding

Admissions

Still a major issue in England:

Use of contextual data – measuring potential

Publicising of bursaries – complex picture

Easier to take the “safe choice”

For many universities retention, attainment of “best degrees” and progression to employment and postgraduate study for WP cohorts is an issue

Example from one English university:Black students 25% less likely than white students to get best degree irrespective of entry qualification

Importance for WP students of engagement, self confidence and belonging

Importance of engaging academic staff and ensuring they take responsibility - increase in subject based pedagogical research

Importance of senior managers ensuring strategies include access, admissions and retention and success and support:

academic staff capacity to deliver

professional staff capacity to deliver

student capacity to deliver

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/wp/

http://www.offa.org.uk/

http://actiononaccess.org/

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/retention/PHF/retention_and_success_change_programme_2012-2015

http://www.f-a-c-e.org.uk/

Michael Hill

michaelhill1000@gmail.com