Changes to fundability status of students for 2008-09 as a result of the ELQ policy

April 2008 | ref: Circular letter 07/2008

To:

Heads of HEFCE-funded further education colleges, Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions, Heads of universities in Northern Ireland

Dear Vice-Chancellor or Principal

1. This letter notifies institutions of changes to the definition of fundability status that we intend to introduce in our Higher Education Students Early Statistics (HESES) and Higher Education in Further Education: Students (HEIFES) surveys for 2008-09. These changes arise from the implementation of the Government's policy on the funding of students aiming for equivalent or lower qualifications (ELQs) compared with those they already hold.

2. HEFCE 2007/27, 'Withdrawal of funding for equivalent or lower qualifications', consulted on implementation of the Government's policy towards the funding of students aiming for ELQs. A report on the outcomes of the consultation is being published separately as HEFCE 2008/13. Our provisional recurrent grant allocations for 2008-09 (summarised in HEFCE 2008/12) incorporated adjustments to funding for 2008-09 as a result of those decisions.

3. In Annex B of HEFCE 2007/27 we explained that, for the purposes of adjusting funding in 2008-09, we were treating a potentially larger population of students as being exempt from the ELQ policy than might finally be reflected in the longer term through our revised definition of fundability status in the HESES and HEIFES surveys. Further information about this was provided in the individual recurrent grant letters to institutions of 3 March 2008. This approach has been necessary to reflect the coverage and limits of the 2005-06 data which have been used to inform the funding adjustments, ensuring that we take a broad, inclusive view of areas to be exempt for the purposes of adjusting funding, while providing a robust definition of fundability status for the future.

4. Annex A to this letter provides the revised definition of HEFCE-fundable status that we intend to adopt for HESES, while Annex B provides the equivalent definition for HEIFES. In both cases, these are shown as tracked changes ^(see note) to paragraphs 1 to 5 of Annex G of the 2007 version of each publication (HEFCE 2007/26 and HEFCE 2007/25 respectively). In identifying those areas which are exempt from the ELQ policy, we have avoided using the subject codes that institutions use in completing their individualised student data returns (the Joint Academic Coding System, JACS, used by higher education institutions in their individualised student record for the Higher Education Statistics Agency; and the learndirect codes used by further education colleges in their individualised learner record for the Learning and Skills Council). Given that institutions have some flexibility in how they use these subject codes, we do not believe they are sufficiently robust for use in determining the fundability status of students.

5. Paragraphs 6 to 25 of Annex G of HESES07 and HEIFES07 will also be retained in HESES08 and HEIFES08 respectively, subject to any revisions that we consider appropriate. They have not been included in the Annexes to this document, because the changes arising from the ELQ policy do not have an immediate bearing on them. However, institutions should note that, because of the changes to our teaching funding method introduced from 2008-09, neither the former premiums, nor the targeted allocations that replace them, will be included in the standard resource calculations used in determining how many Home and EC students should be reported as non-fundable (if funding is provided from another EC public source), or can be reported as independently funded (if funding is provided from a source other than an EC public one). The calculations will continue to take account of London weighting.

6. We do not require a response to this letter. However, if institutions have questions about the wording in Annexes A or B of this letter, they should send them to heses@hefce.ac.uk (for higher education institutions) or heifes@hefce.ac.uk (for further education colleges). The definitions of fundability status will be confirmed in the HESES and HEIFES publications in September 2008.

Yours sincerely

Professor David Eastwood
Chief Executive