1. Making the money work: Developing sustainable funding schemes for access and success – A view from England Michael Hill

2. Structure of session • The present situation in England (2011 – present) • How we arrived (2003 – 2011) • The future (2013 - ?) • Key issues

3. Present situation • Sources of funding specifically aimed at widening access and success include: • HEFCE grants • National Scholarship Programme (NSP) • Access Agreements

4. HEFCE Grants • £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)

5. NSP (2011- 14) • 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

6. Access agreements • 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%

7. Monitoring arrangements • 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

8. How we arrived (2003 – 2011 • HEFCE grant - yes • Access Agreement – yes (from 2006) • NSP – no • But included specifically funded partnership work : • Aimhigher 2003 – 2011 • Lifelong Learning networks 2004 – 2012

9. The future (2013 - ?) • 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

10. Key issues • Access • Admissions • Retention and Success • Sustainability

11. Key issues • 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

12. Key issues • Admissions • Still a major issue in England: • Use of contextual data – measuring potential • Publicising of bursaries – complex picture • Easier to take the “safe choice”

13. Key issues • 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

14. Key issues • 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

15. Key issues - Sustainability 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

16. References • 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/

17. Contact details • Michael Hill • michaelhill1000@gmail.com