Higher Education Student Support Statistics

1. Higher Education Student Support Statistics Policy, Data, Trends and Users Views

2. Overview of Workshop • Brief introduction to higher education (HE) student support policy • Overview of data on students supported through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland • Trends in HE student support 1997-98 onwards • An introduction to Student Loans Company data • Discussion of user needs and suitability of current outputs

3. HE Student Support Policy Marieli Cole – Higher Education and Learner Support Division

4. Student Awards Agency for Scotland Data Information Available and Current Trends

5. Overview • Brief introduction to the data we hold • Types of student we have information on • What information we have (e.g. student characteristics, support received) • An overview of trends in SAAS student support • Other sources of information to give a fuller picture of HE support

6. Mainstream SAAS Support – who do we support? • Mainstream support provided through SAAS for: • Scottish domiciled students studying anywhere in the UK and EU domiciled students studying in Scotland • Full-time students studying at HE level i.e. undergraduate, Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) and a limited number of other postgraduates. • Up until 2008-09 a small number (less than 1,000 part-time students received loan support through SAAS and SLC • Excludes pre-registration nursing and midwifery students • Information on mainstream SAAS support makes up the bulk of our statistics publication on HE support. • They are the main focus of policy and external interest in HE student support

7. Mainstream SAAS support – where we get the data from • SAAS’s administrative system for assessing and paying support. Data falls into two categories: • Data the student provides when they fill out the forms to apply for support • Data created by the system as a result of assessing the student for support and making payments • SAAS system is a live database which is continually updated • Students can apply throughout the year • We get fixed extracts for an academic year of some of the information held • Final academic year datasets taken from the system at a similar point each year – i.e. for most recent years, end of August.

8. Mainstream SAAS support – types of support • Three main support streams: • Fees – we include fee loans for students studying in the rest of the UK in this category • Awards – non-repayable support • Loans – specifically maintenance loans • Students apply to SAAS who calculate entitlement • Student Loans Company (SLC) extends the loan • Majority of students applying for loans take one out from SLC and majority of amount assessed is borrowed

9. Mainstream SAAS support – what information we have • Student characteristics e.g.: • Age • Gender • Disability type for some • Marital status • Household income for those who declare it • Home postcode – from that: LA, region, constituency, SIMD analysis possible • Domicile – split into those funded as Scottish domiciles and those funded as EU domiciles (fee support only) • Indication of where they are living whilst they study (home, elsewhere, London)

10. Mainstream SAAS support – what information we have • Course details e.g.: • Institution attended • Location and type of institution (e.g. college, higher education institution (HEI) • Qualification level studied • Course year • Allied Health Professions flag

11. Mainstream SAAS support – what information we have Support paid to students: • We know about those who have actually received awards or fee support or who have applied for and are entitled to loans • We know the type of support within each category e.g. • Fees – whether tuition fees (full, half, other) or fee loans • Awards – award type (e.g. Young Students’ Bursary, Disabled Students’ Allowance, Travel Expenses etc. etc. • Loans – non-income assessed, income assessed, additional income assessed. • We know the amounts actually paid to students (net of any overpayments)

12. Mainstream SAAS support – what we do with the data • A National Statistics publication ‘Higher Education Student Support in Scotland’ published online in autumn each year: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/11/17092744/0 • Gives 6 year time series of most recent years • Publication tables going back to 1997-98 and local authority tables also available online: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/Datasets • PQs and adhoc requests for both internal and external users • Policy development • SAAS’s own internal policy development and budget forecasting • Allocation of HE Discretionary and Childcare Funds

13. Some Headline Student Support Statistics • How many students? • 2008-09 • 124,845 students supported by SAAS • 115,300 Scots • 9,545 EU • How much money? • 2008-09 • £482.6 million (almost ½ billion!)

14. Numbers supported since 1997-98

15. Numbers supported since 1997-98 Fees paid by students

16. Numbers supported since 1997-98 Abolition of sma grants

17. Numbers supported since 1997-98 Free tuition again

18. Numbers supported since 1997-98 YSB introduced

19. Numbers supported since 1997-98 Higher fees

20. Amounts of support assessed/paid to students since 1997-98

21. Amounts of support assessed/paid to students since 1997-98 Fees paid by students

22. Amounts of support assessed/paid to students since 1997-98 Abolition of sma grants

23. Amounts of support assessed/paid to students since 1997-98 Free tuition again

24. Amounts of support assessed/paid to students since 1997-98 YSB introduced

25. Amounts of support assessed/paid to students since 1997-98 Higher Fees

26. Qualification Level ≈

27. Increase in Number of EU Students Funded by SAAS

28. Growth in numbers of EU students receiving support from SAAS

29. Increase in Disabled Students Allowance Recipients and Amounts Paid

30. Decline in Students and Amounts for Young Students’ Bursary in recent years

31. Decline in numbers applying for loans

32. Uptake of Student Loans

33. Other HE student funding streams • Supplementary tables included in publication on support provided by Scottish Government through: • Nursing and Midwifery Students’ Bursary Scheme (NMSB) • ILA 500 – For part-time students • Higher Education Discretionary and Childcare Funds

34. Nursing and Midwifery • Supported by the Scottish Government Health Directorate’s Nursing and Midwifery Bursary Scheme (NMSB) • Much simpler support scheme than mainstream • Supports around 10,000 students a year • Support is in the form of a range of awards – main bursary (non-income assessed) plus supplementary awards for travel, childcare, disabled students etc • We publish overall numbers supported and amount of support paid

35. ILA 500 • Introduced in 2008-09 for part-time HE students studying 50% or more of a full-time course • £500 grant towards fee • Available to those with INDIVIDUAL income of £18,000 or less • Threshold is now £22,000 or less • Administered by SAAS and Skills Development Scotland • We publish overall numbers supported, amounts and age by gender breakdown. • Data extracted from SAAS on adhoc basis

36. Higher Education Discretionary and Childcare Funds • To help students who experience financial hardship during the academic year • SAAS distribute funds but institutions are responsible for administering them • Aggregated info on funds returned to SAAS by institutions – usually by December/January • Information on numbers assisted is not individualised – likely to be double counting of students • We publish ‘instances of assistance’ through the HE Discretionary and Childcare Funds and amounts issued by institutions

37. Student Loans Company Data Dave Cartwright – The Student Loans Company (SLC)

38. STUDENT LOANS COMPANY CONTRIBUTION TO LIFELONG LEARNING STATISTICSIN SCOTLAND AND IN THE UK DAVE CARTWRIGHT SLC MANAGEMENT INFORMATION MANAGER 26 March 2010

39. Structure of presentation • SLC contribution to Scotland’s Lifelong Learning Statistics • Student Support for the academic year • Student Loans debt and repayment by former students • SLC contribution to statistics for other Government Administrations • England • Wales • Northern Ireland • SLC contribution to Bank of England Lending to Individuals statistics

40. SLC contribution to Scotland’s Lifelong Learning Statistics • Publications by the Scottish Government: • http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/TrendHEStudentSupport • Publications by SLC: • http://www.slc.co.uk/pdf/slcsfr03r2009.pdf • http://www.slc.co.uk/pdf/slcsfr032009annex.pdf

41. Table 7: Students assessed by SAAS as entitled to loans and actual loan take-up from the Student Loans Company, 2003-04 to 2008-09

42. Observations from Student Loan take up figures • Clear drop each year in the number of Scotland domiciled students taking out loans (reflecting a drop each year for the numbers of Scotland domiciled students in HE which may in turn be caused by a reduction in the 18-19 year old population or a reduced take up of HE?) • The average amount of maintenance loan taken out is not increasing and is lower than in the other Government administrations (reflecting a different policy on the amount of loan obtainable non means tested versus means tested; as well as different attitudes to debt in Scotland?)

43. Table 2(i) : Student Loan outlay and repayments - Publicly Owned Debt : Financial years 2006-07 to 2008-09: borrower activity

44. Table 1 : Student Loan outlay and repayments - Publicly Owned Debt : financial years 2006-07 to 2008-09: amounts (£m)

45. Table 4 (iii): Average amount repaid by ICR Student Loans borrowers making repayments via HMRC by repayment cohort and tax year as at 30/06/2009

46. Observations from Student Loan debt and repayment figures • There is an increase each year in the number of people with Student Loans debt but the annual increase is declining as the difference between those completing repayment and those taking out loans for the first time reduces. The increase was 17,000 in financial year 2008-09 • The amount owed increases substantially each year. In 2008-09 the debt increased from £2.05 billion to £2.23 billion • The bulk of the debt is now repayable under the Income Contingent Repayment scheme. Under that scheme the average amount repaid each year increases by £50-80 each year. The average amount repaid in tax year 2007/08 was £530. For those one year after leaving HE it was £390 and for those four or five years after leaving HE it was £610.

47. SLC contribution to Scotland’s Lifelong Learning Statistics • What is the user interest in these publications? • The number of students taking out loans and at what level • Debt built up by students whilst studying • Impact of debt on former students: bankruptcy; IVA; default registration; repayment levels; write offs; collection from those who move overseas • Is the user interest being addressed by these publications? • What do users want to know about student loans taken out by students? • What do users want to know about the effect of student loans debt on former students?

48. SLC contribution to statistics for other Government Administrations • England • http://www.slc.co.uk/pdf/slcsfr062009.pdf • http://www.slc.co.uk/pdf/slc0910sfeapps20100131.pdf • Wales • http://www.slc.co.uk/pdf/slcsfr072009.pdf • http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/post16education2010/02101/?lang=en • http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/post16ed2009/hdw20091029/?lang=en • Northern Ireland • http://www.slc.co.uk/pdf/slcsfr042009.pdf

49. SLC contribution to Bank of England Lending to Individuals statistics • UK level • http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/li/current/index.htm

50. Discussion Session User Needs and Suitability of Current Outputs