Today, the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) published their report: Outcomes of access agreements monitoring for 2014-15. The report concludes that universities and colleges are making successful and ‘positive progress’ in ensuring young people from disadvantaged backgrounds have the opportunity to access and enter into higher education. OFFA’s Director of Fair Access to Higher Education encourages HE to ‘press for further progress’ as ‘too many people are still held back by their backgrounds, despite having the ability to excel in higher education’.
Key findings from the report show that ‘88% of the targets universities and colleges set themselves through their access agreements’ have been made (pg 3). The report also highlighted that ‘institutions with low proportions of students from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to meet their high-level outcomes targets than those with high proportions’ and that ‘institutions are less likely to make progress on targets relating to part-time and mature students compared to those around young, full-time undergraduates’ (pg 4).
Investment in widening participation has increased from £628 million in 2013-14 to £725 million this year, the report states. However, it also highlights ‘‘there is an overall trend of decreasing financial support between 2013-14 and 2016-17’. This, it suggests, ‘reflects the end of the Government’s NSP scheme, as well as institutional refocus of spend towards access, student success and progression activity’ (pg 21). The move towards spending on outreach programmes such as activities as opposed to financial support is seen as a strategy to rebalance widening participation spending.
Source: OFFA
Another report focusing on widening participation has also been published. HEPI’s report, Boys to Men: The underachievement of young men in higher education – and how to start tackling it, draws on data from both HESA and Offa which reveals concerns over young men entering and completing higher education. ‘Men are in a minority among undergraduates, postgraduates, full-time students and part-time students’ and the biggest gap is seen among the poorest, the report reveals.