18.09.08
1994 Group rejects proposals for a national bursary scheme
The 1994 Group of student-focused research-intensive universities has opposed calls for a national bursary scheme for UK students. The proposal is made in a report published today by the Higher Education Policy Institute.
The Group’s 18 members expect to invest more than £45 million in bursaries and outreach activities this academic year. They say the present system – in which universities develop individual bursary schemes to meet the specific needs of their students – is working well and should continue.
Professor Steve Smith, Chair of the 1994 Group and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter, said: ‘A national bursary scheme would effectively be a tax, a forced pooling of tuition fee income, which would be distributed away from the institution to which a student pays his or her fee. It would seriously compromise the direct relationship between a student's fees and their education.’
He added: ‘The purpose of additional fee income would change from covering teaching costs to subsidising students on a national scale. It would be invested away from the activities it is designed to enhance and support. It could even provide an incentive for universities to minimise variable fees and compromise the student experience.’
The erosion of the relationship between students and the university they attend would also damage the relationship between a university and its alumni, which is an increasingly essential relationship within the current funding environment.
A guaranteed minimum bursary entitlement for all students already exists and the system of variable bursaries is operating well. Many selecting universities currently use variable bursaries as a tool to assist fair access, offering higher bursaries as a means of persuading students from lower socio-economic groups to attend their university rather than go to institutions that demand lower A-level points.
Said Professor Smith: ‘A national bursary scheme would be an extremely restrictive tool, stopping institutions from offering bursaries that are specific to identified access problems. The University of Exeter, for example, has awarded double bursaries to applicants from the South West in order to meet specific local needs. The proposed national bursary system would provide no such flexibility for targeting bursaries to specific regions or to specific types of student, which we believe is essential for truly effective widening participation and fair access initiatives.’
1994 Group members believe the most effective way to widen participation in Higher Education is for the UK to work towards raising the attainment at school level amongst young people of all backgrounds, not by introducing a national bursary scheme.
Notes for Editors:
▪ The 1994 Group brings together eighteen internationally renowned, research-intensive universities. The Group provides a central vehicle to help members promote their common interests in higher education, respond efficiently to key policy issues, and share best methods and practice.
▪ In 2006-07, 1994 Group institutions invested £15.5 million in new bursary and scholarship schemes and outreach activities. This investment is estimated to rise to £45 million in 2008-09. These sums are in addition to the significant amounts already invested by members in bursaries and scholarships from charitable and other sources.
▪ The National Student Survey results published on 11 September 2008 confirmed that, for the fourth successive year, the 1994 Group had emerged as the leading group of universities. Some 88% of students in the Group’s 18 member universities said they were satisfied with the student experience compared to a national average of 83%. 1994 Group member universities were rated above average in each of the six categories surveyed. This includes Teaching, where they received 88% positive responses (sector average 83%) and Organisation and Management 81% (sector average 73%). The average for 1994 Group member universities for all six categories was 80% (sector average 76%).
▪ Member universities are: University of Bath, Durham University, University of East Anglia, University of Essex, University of Exeter, Birkbeck University of London, Goldsmiths University of London, Royal Holloway University of London, Lancaster University, University of Leicester, Loughborough University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Reading, University of St Andrews, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of Surrey, University of Sussex and University of York.
Press Enquiries: Tom Norton, Director of Internal Policy Development, 1994 Group. Tel: 0207 164 2094; Email: enquiry@1994group.co.uk