Grant programme relating to links between higher education institutions, schools, colleges and academies

1. Who can bid for the funding?

We welcome collaborative bids from higher education institutions (HEIs), schools, further education colleges (FECs) and other stakeholders. However, as noted in Annex A, paragraph 10, the proposal must be submitted by a lead HEI. For example, FECs and Lifelong Learning Networks can be partners in a collaborative proposal, but the proposal must be led by a HEI and form part of the institution's overall school-HE links strategy, which is the subject of the proposal.

A HEI may not lead more than one proposal. A HEI can therefore lead a collaborative bid or a single HEI bid.

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2. What range of activities will be funded?

We have deliberately not prescribed activities because we want the outcome of this research grant to portray the full range of school-HE links deemed viable and effective by a higher education institution (HEI).

As noted in Annex A, paragraph 14, we expect proposals to address 'whole institution' models of school-HE links, taking a long-term, strategic approach to developing these links. The aim is, in this way, to engage the teams, faculties, schools or departments which comprise the HEI's activity. We expect school-HE activity to feature in strategic assessments (Annex A, paragraph 9).

We expect activity to reflect, as far as possible, the recommendations of the National Council for Educational Excellence report and HEFCE's priorities for school-HE links (as summarised in Annex A, paragraph 4 and paragraph 15, a, i-iii). Some institutions may not yet be in a position to address all these criteria in their proposals, but we expect proposals to reflect them in some measure. Where there are gaps, we are keen for proposals to refer to activity that is planned or in development.

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3. Can the proposals evaluate existing models of schools- HE links?

Yes, we expect proposals to evaluate existing models or practice, and also to consider some of the following:

• areas of school-HE links where good practice may exist but is not widely recognised or shared, and to put forward proposals to describe, evaluate and possibly develop that good practice further
• the extension of already well-adopted good practice to different and/or more challenging settings, especially where this would lead to a better return on investment
• the unique aspects of the model that is to be researched, evaluated and developed.

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4. To what type of activity does 'shared governance' and 'curriculum development' refer?

Shared governance refers to active, two-way engagement between higher education institutions (HEIs) and schools and further education colleges (for example, representatives from HEIs sitting on school-management groups and vice versa). We are looking for examples which highlight the quality and depth of these relationships.

Curriculum development could include work around the 14-19 diplomas or providing support for curriculum-enrichment activity.

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5. Can the proposal only focus on primary schools or can it focus on primary and secondary schools?

In line with the guidance 'Higher education outreach: targeting disadvantaged learners' (page 8, HEFCE 2007/12), we expect proposals to focus activity on 13-19 year-olds. However this does not prevent proposals from including work with primary schools, providing the target group are from lower socio-economic groups (NS-SEC 4-8), and live in areas of relative deprivation where participation in HE is low.

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