Student number controls for 2013-14

1. How many student numbers will be awarded through the margin exercise for 2013-14, and how will they be allocated?

5,000 places will be allocated through this margin exercise. Our circular letter 12/2012 provides initial information about how we intend to do this, and invites comments on the outline proposals by Friday 1 June 2012. 

2. When will institutions receive detailed guidance from HEFCE?

We will be issuing detailed guidance following our July Board meeting.

3. How should institutions calculate their average fee?

In completing section 3d of Annex B of their OFFA Access Agreement, institutions must confirm whether their average fee, net of waivers, for 2013-14 commencing students will be £7,499 or below, between £7,500 and £8,250, or above £8,250. If their fee is above £8,250 but they franchise out places at an average net fee of below £7,500 they are asked to enter the number of full-time commencing places they expect to franchise at this fee level. The average fee should be calculated on the following basis:

• It should represent the average fee, after any tuition fee waivers, per full-time equivalent (FTE) student for the whole institution for each year of active study for students subject to the new full-time undergraduate regulated fee regime, who start in the 2013-14 academic year. Tuition fee waivers provided from funding made available through the National Scholarship Programme may be included.
• Only tuition fee waivers can be taken into account for the purposes of calculating average fees. Expenditure on student bursaries, or other reductions in charges made to students, such as for accommodation, should not be treated as tuition fee waivers.
• It should include full-time undergraduate and HEFCE-fundable Postgraduate/Professional Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) study only, excluding other postgraduate provision and all part-time provision. HEFCE-fundable full-time PGCEs were excluded from the average fee calculation for the 2012-13 margin process because at that time the detailed financing arrangements for such courses had not been finalised and they were also not included in institutions’ Access Agreements at that point. We are now including them in this average fee calculation because they are part of the student number control.
• It should include only provision fundable by HEFCE – so, for example, provision funded by the NHS or the Teaching Agency should be excluded, even where institutions are required by OFFA to include these students in their Access Agreements for 2013-14.
• It should include the fees and student FTEs for all franchised-out provision, but not for any franchised-in provision.
• It should include sandwich courses and Erasmus/non-Erasmus year abroad students; both at 0.5 FTE and on the basis of the total of the fee charged to the student and any income paid in the form of a grant on behalf of the student. We may test the credibility of the fee level if, for example, the institution is using many sandwich or year abroad placements to ensure it does not exceed the eligibility threshold of £7,500.
• It should not take into account the likelihood of students to withdraw from their studies part-way through the academic year, including those that do not pay their full tuition fee for the year on the grounds that they have withdrawn from the course early, i.e. no allowance should be made for institutional withdrawal rates.
• Students taking accelerated full-time undergraduate programmes, such as bachelors degrees taught over two years rather than three, should be treated in the same way as any other full-time undergraduate. Institutions are not permitted to charge fees to such students above the usual maxima set out in legislation, and we provide funding to offset the additional costs of this kind of provision. For the purposes of this average fee calculation the FTE value of such students should not exceed 1.0FTE in any year.

4. When will HEFCE let institutions know their provisional 2013-14 student number control? 

This cannot be before January 2013 because:

• we will need to have confirmation in our grant letter of the Government’s overall plans for student numbers for 2013-14
• we want to make use of 2011-12 HESA or ILR data to identify students with ABB equivalent qualifications and other characteristics, as necessary
• we will use 2012-13 HESES or HEIFES data on recruitment levels, which we will receive around December 2012.

We hope to be in a position to notify institutions of their provisional SNC in mid-January, as close to the main UCAS application deadline as possible.

5. Can an institution which is not currently funded by HEFCE receive student numbers through this process?

We will be running a bidding process for providers of higher education which are not currently in receipt of direct HEFCE funding for full time undergraduate places. No bidder in this category will be allocated more than 50 student places, and there will be a minimum allocation of 25 as last year. Advice about the format of the bids will be made available in July, following our Board meeting.

6. If an institution won margin places in the first round, can it now raise its fees for 2013-14 entrants?

In promoting student choice, the Government wishes to ensure that students have the opportunity to study at universities and colleges that combine high-quality education and excellent value for money. Universities and colleges awarded places from the 2012-13 (and 2013-14) margins should therefore be aware that significant increases in average net fee levels (after fee waivers) for entrants over the next two or three years may result in a downward adjustment of their institutional student number control total from 2014-15 onwards.

We will monitor the situation institution by institution. 

7. When will HEFCE publish a list of ABB+ equivalencies?

We are currently consulting on the criteria we should use to determine equivalent entry qualification and grade combinations. We will publish our proposed ABB+ equivalencies following our July Board meeting.

8. What will the total uncontrolled population in 2013-14 be?

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) estimates that the ABB+ policy will increase the uncontrolled population to around one in three places, or 120,000 entrants. We estimate an extra 35,000 places will be taken out of the control in 2013-14 in addition to the 85,000 for AAB+ in 2012-13.

This, estimate, however, is subject to change. The Government has asked us to take a cautious approach in estimating the number of students in the uncontrolled ABB+ population in 2013-14 and their propensity to attend university. This will require us to adjust the student number control for 2013-14 to reflect uncertainty about how many students with ABB+ equivalent entry qualifications may wish to take up a full-time higher education place in England in that year.

Also, if the sector over-recruits either because of growth in recruitment in 2012-13 from the uncontrolled AAB+ population (including non-HEFCE-fundable students who are eligible for student support), or against the student number control then we may have to reduce the 2013-14 student number control to compensate. The total number of places taken out of the control may also be affected by decisions about other classes of students that may be excluded, such as students topping up their qualifications and those sponsored by industry or charities.

9. What does the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills mean when it says HEFCE should exercise caution in its estimation of the numbers of students in the ABB+ population?

This request stems from the need to avoid pressures on the student support budget through unanticipated growth in the uncontrolled student number population. We will consider this as part of our implementation work (see above).