Chris Scrase

Programme Manager

Writing your access agreement for 2016-17

What’s new? What’s important?

What we want to know

• What issues are you looking to address?

• What approach will you take?

• What outcomes do you hope to achieve?

• What will you prioritise?

• How have you come to those decisions?

• Your resource plan:

– targets

– fees

– student numbers

– predicted investment

Writing your 2016-17 access agreement

Strategic Priorities

1. Whole-institution approach

2. Student lifecycle approach

3. Greater emphasis on long-term outreach

4. More effective collaboration

5. Smarter, evidence-based spend

6. Equality and diversity

7. Stretching targets that set out how you will make faster progress, both collectively across the sector, and in your institution.

1. Whole-institution approach

• Evidence that you are moving towards a strategic, whole-institution approach

• Embed WP into your work across the institution

• Internal collaboration –ensuring departments are working towards the same goals

2. Student lifecycle approach

• Supporting students:– preparing for HE

– entering HE

– throughout the course

– onwards to further study or to/within employment

• OFFA only covers students and courses that are fee-regulated

3. Long-term outreach

• Invest in sustained, targeted outreach

• This should include work to widen participation to the sector as a whole, alongside own-institution recruitment

• Continue to build infrastructure and activity

• We recognise that it takes time for this work to have an impact

4. Effective collaboration

• Build on and strengthen collaborative work

• Collaboration not limited to higher education institutions:– other FE/HE institutions– schools– employers– third sector organisations– local authorities

• National Networks for Collaborative Outreach (NNCO) – an opportunity for collaboration

5. Smarter evidence-based spend

• Invest smartly for greatest impact

• Base decisions on your own evaluation and others’ evidence

• Show how investment in financial support will improve access, success and progression

• Embed monitoring and evaluation

6. Equality and Diversity

• Demonstrate how you have taken equality issues into account

• Include evidence on possible equality implications

• Costs for subscriptions to networks or services that support access, can be included as OFFA-countable expenditure

Changes to milestones and targets

• Access agreement targets largely unchanged since 2012-13

• The sector has made excellent progress

• Institutions should review and set new stretching targets which set out your desired outcomes

• Demonstrate how you intend to make faster progress in improving access, success and/or progression

• We welcome targets on collaboration

Targets in your 2016-17 access agreement

Your targets must:

• be stretching, setting out your desired outcomes

• reflect your strategic priorities and performance across the student lifecycle

• include at least one target around entrants

• be up to 2019-20 and include annual milestones

Our target groups

• Mature students

• Care leavers

• Access to medicine

• Disabled students

• Part-time and flexible learning

• Young carers

Disabled students

• Government has announced proposed changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) in 2015-16 and 2016-17

• OFFA’s approach– Flexible– Expenditure is countable where this goes beyond

‘reasonable adjustments’– Opportunity to review targets

• Vital that students receive accurate information from institutions about the support they can expect to receive

Part-time and flexible learning

• The number of part-time students has nearly halved since 2009-10

• Disadvantaged young students are twice as likely to study part-time

• We encourage you to consider what more you can do to attract and support part-time and flexible learners

Young carers

• Young adult carers often struggle in higher education because of their caring responsibilities

• We encourage you to consider the services you provide to support young carers

• You can count support for young carers as part of your access agreement spend

Our requirements on expenditure

• Broad levels of expenditure set out in How to produce an access agreement for 2014-15

• If you have made significant progress you might make a case for reducing your levels of expenditure

Who to contact for further advice

Region of institution Key contact(s)

West Midlands and NorthAlex WardropSerena Coultress

East Midlands and South Andy LeslieFiona Clark

London and EastAnkaret FillipichBecka WallbridgeRachel Wright

All/generalenquiries@offa.org.uk0117 931 7171

or www.offa.org.uk/contact-us

Any questions?

enquiries@offa.org.uk0117 931 7171