Frank Buttle Trust Conference

2. Frank Buttle Trust Conference Sarah Howls Acting Head, Widening Participation 12 May 2009

3. The policy context • Lower socio-economic classes continue to be under-represented • Need to raise expectations, attainment and progression to HE for learners from under-represented groups • Need to enhance student success • Need to address skill needs of adult population • Not about lowering standards

4. Recent publications • Government publications • New Opportunities – fair chances for the future • National Council for Educational Excellence - recommendations • Other publications • Million + Social Mobility – universities changing lives

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6. Widening Participation – Performance Indicators

7. Our investment in widening participation continues • New strategic allocation: Teaching Enhancement and Student Success (£269 million) • Combines funding for teaching enhancement and improving retention (IR) • £143 million – total WA and disability allocation • Transfer of £30million from IR to WA allocation • Aimhigher • Core funding: £69m (jointly from HEFCE and DIUS) • Aimhigher Associates: £8.75m • Summer schools/healthcare strand: £3.3m/£1.8m

8. Broader funding context 2009-10 • ASN allocation reduced by 5000 • HEFCE grant letter January 2009 • Confirmed UG recruitment levels • Budget announcement

9. Why do we need strategic assessments? “Too little is known about the widening participation activities and expenditure of institutions” National Audit Office, Widening Participation in Higher Education, June 2008 “An important driver behind our request…is the evidence it will provide of how widening participation has become part of the policies, processes and cultures in many institutions.”HEFCE, Request for Widening Participation Strategic Assessments, January 2009 “WP - a strategic theme, not just a set of activities” Widening participation strategic assessments

10. What are strategic assessments? • Single strategic assessment: • Measuring success • Identifying the place of WP in institutional missions • Recording activity and WP commitments • Incorporating access agreement • Inform dialogue with institutions • Use this to influence the debate across the sector

11. Strategic assessments – principles (1) • Flexible form of reporting • Opportunity for HEIs to take full credit for all the work that is done to widen participation • Joined-up delivery of widening participation work with access agreements • HEFCE and OFFA to operate within their existing powers

12. Strategic assessments – principles (2) • Admissions criteria, policies and procedures remain the responsibility of institutions. • SA will be developmental – a basis for: • - continuous improvement - showing measurable progress against targets and milestones - dialogue with HEFCE and OFFA • Reflect institutional management information needs

13. WP target groups • Higher education outreach: targeting disadvantaged learners (HEFCE 2007/12) • NS-SEC groups 4-8 • Areas of relative deprivation • Disabled learners • Care leavers • BME (degree attainment and access) • Statutory requirements: sex, age, race, equalities

14. Timetable for strategic assessments

15. WP – what else? • Aimhigher: • Associates • Summer schools • Evaluation • School-HEI links • LLNs • HE Centres • Disabled students