Professor Les Ebdon CBE

Director of Fair Access to Higher Education

National strategy for access and student success

OFFA and HEFCE were asked 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

National strategy: organising themes

• Maximising impact of investment• Growing evidence base• Integrating OFFA and HEFCE systems

National strategy – new research

Publication date

The uses and impact of HEFCE funding for widening participation March 2013

Literature review of research into widening participation to higher education

August 2013

Roundtable discussions with stakeholders September 2013

International evidence of what works to widen participation in other countries

October 2013

Formative evaluation of the National Scholarship Programme November 2013

Effect of institutional bursaries on retention before the introduction of higher fees

Forthcoming

The uses and impact of access agreements and associated spend on widening participation activity

Forthcoming

Trends in young participation by selectivity of institution Forthcoming

The strategy draws on existing knowledge, research and evidence, plus the following specially-commissioned work:

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

The ‘student lifecycle’ approach

“Widening participation in the English context has recognised that widening access to HE alone is not sufficient to achieve broader goals of social justice, social mobility and economic prosperity; support for

students to be successful in HE and beyond is also required.”CFE/Edge Hill University, International research on the effectiveness of

widening participation (2013)

Student success

• Retention: staying and completing the course

• Attainment: reaching full potential

• Employability: preparing for work

Diverse students = diverse issues

Outreach

• Raises aspirations – higher education is for ‘people like me’

• Includes accurate info on finance and subject choices

• Starts early – before key decisions are made

• Keeps going

©University of Leeds

©University of Nottingham

©Newcastle University

Next steps

• BIS publish strategy• Joint processes…

single document: the SASS

• Implementation• Review and renew

strategy as evidence continues to grow

Strategy for access and student success (SASS)

• Guidance published in early 2014

• Initially covering:– OFFA requirements for

2015-16

– HEFCE requirements for 2014-2019

• Flexible

Strategy for access and student success (SASS)

• Through their SASSs, we expect institutions to: – consider the whole

‘student lifecycle’

– show an evidence based approach

– contribute to national priorities