Jul 12 2011 6:00PM
UCS will spend approximately £2m on additional access and retention measures by 2015 following approval of its Access Agreement by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). This is the fifth largest spend of any UK higher education institution as a proportion of fee income above the basic fee. Approval of the Access Agreement also confirms that UCS tuition fees for UK and European Union full-time undergraduates for 2012 entry will be £7,500 for Foundation degrees and £8,000 for Bachelor degrees.
The UCS Access Agreement is made up of financial support such as fee waivers and non-financial measures such as outreach activity, student retention measures and careers and employability advice.
From 2012-13, UCS will provide financial support by match funding the Government contribution towards the National Scholarship Programme (NSP). UCS will offer these scholarships as fee waivers. UCS will also operate its own additional fee waiver scheme in partnership with schools in Suffolk as part of an ongoing outreach and retention initiative. UCS has been awarded 63 full NSP awards for 2012-13 which UCS will match, providing 126 students with a £3,000 fee waiver for their first year of study.
Alongside this, UCS has also set up the Suffolk School Waiver Scheme whereby in 2012/13, 21 schools in Suffolk will have a Student Access Champion who will be eligible to receive a £3,000 fee waiver in their first year of study. As part of the Student Access Champion role, the student will work in a structured programme with appropriate groups in their former school to encourage widening access from disadvantaged schools.
UCS is committed to continuing to provide aspiration-raising activities for under-represented groups across Suffolk and widening participation in higher education.
Widening participation has been central to the mission of UCS, and the profile of the higher education student body reflects this. UCS has a high proportion of under-represented students, and there is a broad mix of students across the undergraduate student body.
UCS plans to continue with outreach work that promotes widening participation and maintain work previously carried out by Aimhigher, the government-led programme that will cease by July 2011.
Other non-financial measures to be put in place under the access agreement include attention to careers and employability advice, including close engagement with employers to ensure the curriculum is fit for purpose. Activities in this area will include the appointment of additional career advisors and the introduction of specialist careers software.
UCS will also be investing in specific measures designed to improve the retention and success rates of students. UCS is committed to improving the experience of its students, and to this end intends to develop pre-entry programmes of study for those not yet ready for higher education, invest in particular learning technologies and developing further a 24/7 learning environment to support the more flexible learning style of many students and establish a ring-fenced fund to support the needs of students with disabilities.
Professor Mike Saks, UCS Provost and Chief Executive, commented: “We are very pleased to have our package of additional access and retention measures approved by OFFA. This highlights the strong commitment of UCS to widening participation.”