Office for Fair Access OFFA

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Office for Fair Access (OFFA)

• Access Agreements
• Dick Fisher,
• Vice Principal St Marys College
• Chair London South ASG

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• Introduction
• OFFA and Access Agreements
• What HE institutions are doing
• Some key issues

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Aimhigher London South

• Area Steering Group (ASG)
• London Region
• - Forum
• - Regional Partnership Board
• London South

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VARIABLE TUITION FEES 2006

• Tuition fee charges - 0 to 3,000
• Variety
• Institution
• Course
• Time of application
• Payment - Only after leaving course and earning
  over 15,000

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OFFA

• Access agreement for each institution
• Principle to promote and safeguard fair access
  to higher education for under-represented groups
  in light of the introduction of variable tuition
  fees

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ACCESS AGREEMENT

• Fee limits
• Amount of additional fee income for access
  measures
• Bursaries and other financial support for
  students
• Providing information for students
• Outreach work
• Milestones
• Monitoring arrangements

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INSTITUTIONS

• Decide fee structure 70 to charge fees for all
  courses? (KPMG/ THES, 11/02/05)
• Decide financial support to be offered to
  students and in what form

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• Bursaries awards mainly on the basis of means
  dependent criteria
• Scholarships awards mainly on the basis of award
  dependent criteria (academic, sporting, etc.)
• Institutions decide their package to be agreed
  with OFFA

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EXAMPLES

• University of Poppleton
• Strap line Bargain? We got em!

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FINANCIAL HELP AVAILABLE

• Grants (guide) lt 15,000
• 15,000 - 33,000
• gt 33,000
• Student loans
• Other Help
• Contact LEA
• www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport

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ISSUES IN SOUTH LONDON

• Getting the message across to staff in different
  sectors
• Awareness of pay later
• Ensuring all HE staff are informed
• What can students/parents expect from increased
  funding?