Support for teaching enhancement and widening participation
In 2009-10 we introduced a new targeted allocation to provide additional support for teaching enhancement and student success (TESS). This allocation brings together funding previously associated with the allocation for improving retention and the Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund. We allocated £269 million directly to institutions for teaching enhancement and student success in 2009-10 (HEFCE 2009/08). Allocations for 2010-11 total £270 million (see 'Recurrent grants for 2010-11' (HEFCE 2010/30).
The allocation demonstrates a more strategic approach to the overall enhancement of learning and teaching. It acknowledges that funding for improving retention is used to support the learning of all students and that improving retention is often achieved through enhancing the student experience.
Our consultation on future support for teaching enhancement and widening participation sets out what we proposed.
Funding for teaching enhancement and student success is broken down into three sections.
- Improving retention
Undergraduate new entrants are weighted according to prior educational attainment and age. A full description of the allocation method is available. - Institutional learning and teaching strategies
The funding has been distributed pro rata to a standard resource level for each institution for 2009-10, which counts students funded through mainstream and non-mainstream teaching grant. Further education colleges with fewer than 100 FTEs do not receive an allocation. - Research-informed teaching
This is calculated using 2010-11 quality-related research funding per student FTE (2009-10 mainstream and non-mainstream FTEs). Where this rate is less than £500, the funds available are allocated in proportion to the product of the shortfall in the rate of funding and the student FTEs. Further education colleges with fewer than 100 FTEs do not receive an allocation.
Further information on how we fund widening participation.
Teaching enhancement and student success allocations for 2010-11 (October 2010)
We have allocated the funding for teaching enhancement and student success as shown below.
| Funding element | Full-time | Part-time | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funding for improving retention | £175.0M | £54.2M | £229.2M |
| Research-informed teaching | £10.1M | ||
| Institutional learning and teaching strategies | £30.5M | ||
| Overall total | £269.8M |
The following download displays provisional teaching enhancement and student success allocations for 2010-11 broken down by institution and funding element.
2010-11 TESS allocations
(note that all figures shown are before the June 2010 pro rata saving of 1.08868 per cent)
[ MS Excel 49K ]
Sector impact assessment
When we developed these changes to the teaching funding method, we formally assessed their impact on the HE sector in terms of regulatory burden, equality and diversity, and sustainable development.
Sector impact assessment of support for teaching enhancement and widening participation
[ Adobe PDF 52K | MS Word 119K ]
Further information
For further information, contact Sarah Howls, e-mail s.howls@hefce.ac.uk, tel 0117 931 7073.
Last updated 12 November 2010