Professor Les Ebdon CBE

Director of Fair Access to Higher

Education

OFFA’s role

To promote and safeguard fair access to higher education for people from lower income backgrounds and other under-represented groups.

The main way we do this is by approving and regulating access agreements.

What’s in an access agreement?

• Data on fees and student numbers

• What the institution plans to do

• Aims, targets and milestones

• Monitoring and evaluation arrangements

• Student consultation

• How information for prospective students will be communicated

• Equality and diversity

Access measures

Access measures included in access agreements include:

• financial support

• outreach

• retention.

“The government also wants to support those wishing to study part-time in higher education, and mature students. We would like institutions to consider such students within their overall approach to access, and would like [OFFA] to take account of their efforts in considering their access agreements.” BIS guidance to OFFA, February 2011

Ministers’ guidance to OFFA

Entry to part-time higher education courses (England)

(Source: HEFCE publication 2013/03, Higher education in England: Impact of the 2012 reforms)

Part-time students are…

• Covered by access agreements since 2012-13

• More likely than full-time students to:

– come from low participation neighbourhoods

– be over 21

– have caring/family responsibilities

Mature students are more likely than younger students to…

have non-traditional qualifications

study part-time study locally

have family or care responsibilities

have disabilities

be from black and minority ethnic backgrounds

Source: Never Too Late To Learn: Mature Students in Higher Education (Million+/NUS, 2012)

Financial concerns for mature students

• 69 per cent worry about financing their higher education study

• 63 per cent suffer financial hardship

• 27 per cent apply for discretionary funding

• 26 per cent have commercial debts

• 49 per cent receive institutional financial support e.g. bursaries.

Source: Never Too Late To Learn: Mature Students in Higher Education (Million+/NUS, 2012)

Mature students: student success issues

83 per cent have trouble balancing study and other commitments

54 per cent find it challenging to pick up new study techniques or relearn them Twice as likely to non-complete compared to

younger students

Source: Never Too Late To Learn: Mature Students in Higher Education (Million+/NUS, 2012)

Mature students who non-complete are less likely to…

have been offered study skills support

feel involved in university or college life

have been offered peer support

have positive relationships with staff/students

Source: Never Too Late To Learn: Mature Students in Higher Education (Million+/NUS, 2012)

2013-14 access agreements: mature

• 65 higher education institutions have target(s) in their access agreements relating to mature students

• Almost half of these 65 also have target(s) around increasing participation of mature students who haven’t previously participated in HE

• 39 have target(s) relating to mature non-continuation

• 4 per cent of all access agreements include bursaries specifically targeted at mature learners - but overall impact of bursaries much higher

2013-14 access agreements: part-time

• Total spend on access measures for part-time students in 2013-14 = over £13.4 million

• One in five access agreements has target(s) specifically relating to part-time students

• Five have target(s) on non-continuation of part-time

• 17 have target(s) around increasing part-time participation

• Four target financial support specifically to part-time students (plus many more income-based awards that apply to part-time too)

OFFA guidance 2014-15: mature/part-time

• Consider different types of courses/flexible provision.

• Take a broad view of outreach to include potential mature learners as well as work with schools.

• Focus on part-time student retention and success.

• Evaluate outcomes and concentrate efforts/strategy on doing what works.

Evaluation

Increasingly important to access agreement approval and monitoring because:

• provides context

• demonstrates effort and illustrates performance of access measures

• (where successful) demonstrates progress underneath headline targets

• informs decisions on where to invest resources.

Increased focus on evidence and evaluation

• As a sector, we need to identify

what impact access agreement

expenditure is having

• Ensure that all activities are

monitored and evaluated

• Demonstrate that access plans

are based on evidence

• Use evidence collected from

past activities to inform and

improve access plans.

Evaluation into strategy

Successful access strategy

Own specific access aims

What has worked for

others

What has worked for institution

Institution’s own targets measure success

Institution’s own review of where it needs to improve

Sharing of good practice

National strategy for access and student success

OFFA’s role, working with HEFCE, will be to:

“develop a shared strategy for promoting access and

maximising the impact of the investment made by the Government, the Council and institutions”

Letter to OFFA and HEFCE from Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science,

May 2012

The national strategy will…

• Further shrink the access gap between most and least disadvantaged

• Improve targeting and effectiveness of funding and activity – maximise the impact of investment

– reduce funding overlaps

– identify gaps for action

• Address participation through the student lifecycle

• Reflect diversity of students and higher education providers

Our approach to developing the national strategy

Drawing on:

• New research

• Consultation with experts and stakeholders

• Existing knowledge and experience

Organising themes:

• Maximising impact of investment

• Growing evidence base

• Integrating OFFA and HEFCE systems

National strategy: interim report key findings

• Outreach:

— should be sustained and targeted

— universities must work with other education sectors/employers/community

— collaboration between higher education providers

• Progression pathways for learners with vocational/non-traditional qualifications need to be clearly articulated

• Challenges to high-quality, relevant information, advice and guidance need to be overcome

• Fostering a sense of belonging is key to retention and success

• Maintain/enhance focus on equality and diversity

• Greater focus on evaluation