Invitation 98/35Widening participation: special funding programme 1998-99
Executive SummaryPurpose This document invites proposals for funding in 1998-99 to help widen participation in higher education. Key points 1. We have allocated £1.5 million in 1998-99 to this initiative, which focuses on building partnerships between higher education institutions (HEIs) and other organisations. 2. HEIs funded by the HEFCE are eligible to bid for funds. Further education colleges and other organisations may be included in collaborative proposals led by an HEI. 3. We will allocate the funds regionally, to support partnerships which can address low demand from under-represented groups by encouraging progression into and within higher education. We encourage institutions to work together, and with other organisations in the region, to develop either a single, combined proposal or a suite of collaborative proposals. 4. Partnership proposals should respond to a clear regional or local need, and promote longer-term institutional commitment to widening participation. They should also address regional priorities. These priorities are being identified at our regional seminars in July. We will confirm the regional priorities to institutions by the end of July. Action required 5. Institutions should send copies of proposals to Emma Koiston at the HEFCE to arrive no later than Wednesday 23 September 1998. We will announce the outcome in December 1998. Background6. There is an accepted need to increase the participation in HE of students from under-represented groups, particularly from lower socio-economic groups, both for higher education to play a greater role in increasing social equity in the United Kingdom, and to use the talents of its people better. 7. The HEFCE's new standing committee on Equal Opportunities, Access and Lifelong Learning (EQUALL) is advising us on developing a longer- term funding strategy to encourage wider participation in HE. In anticipation of this strategy, we are running a special funding programme for 1998-99, concentrating on building partnerships and disseminating and promoting good practice. 8. The programme will help to lay the foundations for effective institutional strategies in the future, and to initiate activities for development in 1999-2000 and beyond. Aims and principles9. Our aim is to enable HEIs to build partnerships with other organisations to widen participation in higher education. 10. We want to encourage HEIs to play a more active role in stimulating demand for HE from under-represented groups. Many of the causes of low participation from disadvantaged groups fall outside the HE sector. Within these groups demand from suitably qualified entrants or those with the ability to benefit, is currently limited. The reasons for this include low expectations and low attainment levels, with consequent low rates of progression to HE. 11. There are opportunities for HEIs to raise expectations and improve attainment and progression rates, by working in partnership with other organisations, such as schools, further education colleges, employers and community development bodies. These partnerships can address low demand by stimulating and facilitating progression into and within higher education. 12. The regional and local aspects of widening participation are crucial. Most collaborations between HEIs and other partners take place within a region, reflecting the relative lack of mobility of under-represented groups. Many other sources of funding are also targeted regionally. Some of these have similar themes - for example, the FEFC's Strategic Partnership Fund, the Government's Single Regeneration Budget and European Union Funding - which provide an opportunity for synergies between Council funding and other programmes. Scope and funding13. Institutions themselves will wish to determine the focus of the partnerships. There is already significant experience in seeking to widen participation in all sectors of education and training, much of which reflects regional diversity. Some areas have made considerable progress in developing regional and local strategies. We aim to work with these strategies, as well as within our own national strategy, to achieve the most benefit with the funding available. 14. We have allocated a total of £1.5 million in 1998-99 to this initiative, divided among nine regions according to need. We have measured need by the number of young people from poor neighbourhoods in each region who do not enter higher education. This definition draws upon research by the HEFCE's Statistical Unit, which describes students' backgrounds by neighbourhood type rather than socio-economic group. The initiative, however, is aimed at all age groups and not only young people. 15. The funds available in 1998-99 for each region are shown at Annex A. We expect to increase funding for the widening participation programme in future years. 16. Since the amount of money to be allocated in 1998-99 is quite small, we believe that it might best be used to help establish or consolidate a strategic approach. This could involve regions, subject areas, institutions or other groupings. The aim would be to build a framework within which future projects would be more effective. We would encourage HEIs and other stakeholders within regions to reduce the competitive aspect of bidding as far as possible, and to work together to produce either a combined project or a suite of projects that complement one another. Strategic approach17. A strategic approach might include elements such as analysing need, developing partnerships, and building capacity. Analysing need 18. To develop effective strategies in the longer term, we need to understand the nature of low participation of particular groups in any area, and what is currently constraining growth in participation. It is also important to understand the nature and extent of existing partnerships that are effective. Projects might involve:
Developing partnerships 19. Partnerships are an important mechanism for sharing expertise, particularly across different education and business sectors. Where they operate informally, they might benefit from a higher profile, which could encourage a more systematic approach to learning from the experiences of others. Partnerships often help to promote and embed successful practice. Projects might involve:
Building capacity 20. Partnerships might consider how they can help to promote HE to a wider community and how they can develop staff in HE to manage the demands of a more diverse student body. Projects might involve:
Criteria and PrioritiesNational criteria 21. Each bid will need to satisfy the following national criteria. These are threshold criteria, necessary but not sufficient for the success of a proposal. Meet a clear need 22. Institutions should demonstrate that a particular need exists in the region or locally and show how their proposal will help to meet this need. They should specify the outcomes that they will measure to assess the effectiveness of their project. Promote longer-term commitment to widening participation 23. Proposals should show how the funding sought will promote longer-term commitment to widening participation. Develop synergy with other funding sources and partnerships 24. Institutions should identify other relevant funding sources and partnerships that exist in the area, and state how their proposal links to and builds upon these networks. Regional priorities 25. In addition to threshold national criteria, each proposal will need to address regional priorities. These priorities may differ from region to region. We are consulting with institutions and other bodies to identify the priorities relevant to their region, through a series of regional seminars. 26. We will confirm the regional priorities to institutions by the end of July. Assessment27. The HEFCE's Regional Consultants have set up regional advisory networks, or other groups of key players involved in regional strategies for widening participation. These will assess the proposals and advise the HEFCE Board. Bidding rules28. HEIs directly funded by the Council are eligible to submit proposals. As indicated above (paragraph 16 ), we hope that institutions and others will reduce the competitive element of bidding for funds. We are seeking collaborative proposals: these may be a single, combined proposal from institutions and other stakeholders in a region, or a suite of linked proposals. 29. There must be a lead HEI for all bids to ensure clear lines of accountability for the use of funds. Further education colleges and other organisations may be included in collaborative proposals led by an HEI. 30. All activities in a proposal must satisfy the threshold national criteria and address the regional priorities. Monitoring 31. We will ask institutions to provide information about progress in achieving their objectives and we may audit the extent to which institutions have implemented their proposals. Application Process 32. Proposals should be no more that four sides of A4 plus a cover sheet, except where a Regional Consultant requests additional information. If submitting hard copy we require 6 copies of each proposal and cover sheet. A template for the cover sheet is at Annex B. Timetable33. Institutions should post hard copies of proposals to Emma Koiston, HEFCE, Northavon House, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QD, to arrive no later than 23 September 1998. We will accept proposals by facsimile or e-mail. If using e-mail the format used should be either .TXT, .RTF, Word 97 or earlier, or WordPerfect 5.1 or earlier. 34. The relevant regional advisory network or other group will assess the proposals and advise the HEFCE Board in December 1998. 35. We will announce the outcome in December 1998 so that partnerships can begin to implement their proposals in January 1999. Institutions will have until to 31 December 1999 to use the funds. Annex ARegional distribution of funds 1998-99
Annex BProposal for widening participationCover sheet Lead institution ……………………………………………………………………. Title of proposal ……………………………………………………………………. Objectives of proposal …………………………………………………………………….
Timescale over which funding is sought: from ………… ..(month) 1999 to ……………(month) 1999 Partners ……………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………..…………………………………………………………. Contact name and address at lead institution ……..…………………………… Telephone number ……..…………………………… E-mail address……..…………………………… Signature of head of institution (or representative) ……..…………………………… Name and position ……..…………………………… (if providing proposal by e-mail please provide typed confirmation that the Vice Chancellor supports the application) |
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