Making sense of it all

Wednesday 11th March 2015

Dr Lynnette TurnerActing Pro Vice-Chancellor & Dean of

Education

edgehill.ac.uk

Making sense of it of it all• Insufficient or even ambiguous evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of

financial support to widening access and improving retention and student success

• Madeleine Atkins: student opportunity fund ‘will go unless we can demonstrate a return on investment that is really cogent’ or ‘unless there are real and compelling econometrics that show significant (economic) return on investment’ (THE report of & VC report of HEFCE Annual conference 12 Feb 2015)

• Liam Byrne: ‘We would reboot access strategy … We’re not ruling anything out; we’re not ruling anything in’ (THE report 5 March 2015)

• Danny Dorling: ‘Did you know that poor youngsters growing up in places such as Oxford and Cambridge have lower chances of getting to university than their counterparts in Wolverhampton and Blackpool?’ (THE 12 Feb 2015)

edgehill.ac.uk

Making sense of it of it all

• Applications are becoming an increasingly unreliable predictor of entrants, with more candidates not materialising

• Erosion/gradual withdrawal of external funds for student support

• In essence: ever shifting context around student (financial) support and its effectiveness

edgehill.ac.uk

Making sense of it of it all

What follows:

• An institutional picture, not a response to national evidence, but a snapshot of the thinking of one University on how to make the best use of the resources available to support student achievement

• A snapshot of what Edge Hill University offers and how it attempts to balance the need for financial support with other (often more appropriate) interventions that support access, retention and student success

edgehill.ac.uk

Making sense of it of it all

• Edge Hill University has a long and proud history of welcoming students from non-traditional educational backgrounds

• ‘Fastrack’ intensive access programmes since 2001 (free to participants)

• 70% of Edge Hill students are from under-represented groups

• For many of our students (and for the parents of our younger applicants) Higher Education is an unreasonable expense

• Evidence suggests that retention and success is heavily dependent on approaches that develop peer relations, cohort identity, confidence as a HE learner, and an overall experience that is relevant to future plans and aspirations

edgehill.ac.uk

Beyond Access Agreements (1)

Cornerstones of student support at Edge Hill University

• Knowing our students

• Access is not just about financial support – targeting appropriate support

• Funds targeted at student need as and when need arises

• No hidden compulsory costs

edgehill.ac.uk

(Beyond) Access Agreements (2)

Current Access Agreement financial support model provides:

• grants, loans, bursaries, prizes and assistance in applying for benefits – all well advertised and understood by the schools with which we work closely

• includes bursaries of £1,000 to ALL full-time students with a verified household income at or below £25,000

edgehill.ac.uk

(Beyond) Access Agreements (3)

Review of student support package:

• Multiplicity of awards (some with little uptake)

• Mechanical aspects of structured/application awards may have prevented alertness to where need actually is

• We cannot be/don’t feel confident that students in need of financial or other support will come forward to ask for help (how do we address this?) – this is key

edgehill.ac.uk

Long-term strategic work across the student life-cycle (1)

Review of student support package:

To capture what works, foster agility, build on new access/retention initiatives:

1. To maintain an effective method of support for students within the current uncertain environment of Government funding

2. To ensure it effectively supports the strategic objectives of the University

Key decision: to move away from models of support which allocate funds on the basis of household income and towards a model which more explicitly focuses on delivering student outcomes

edgehill.ac.uk

Long-term strategic work across the student life-cycle (2)

Three broad outcomes:

1. Enable engagement

2. Attract and reward excellence

3. Support enhancement

Intention to ‘mainstream’ support and to move away from compartmentalising students (on application and beyond)

edgehill.ac.uk

Long-term strategic work across the student life-cycle (3)Access is not just about money

Relationship building (1)

Applications are becoming an increasingly unreliable predictor of entrants (discussion at recent HEFCE Annual Conference)

Facilitating informed decision making at application

Analysis of ‘no-shows’ – intervention – targeted mentoring of applicants whose profile suggests they may not follow through on acceptance of offer:

edgehill.ac.uk

Long-term strategic work across the student life-cycle (3)Access is not just about money

Relationship building (pre-entry) (2)We looked at the demographic characteristics of those who didn’t show at enrolment in 2013 (despite being firm and despite having their place confirmed). So we were then able to build a profile for the pilot. Namely:

• POLAR 1 or 2 Postcodes

• No family history of HE

• Under 21

• State school attendance

• Distance from campus

• Whether they had engaged with open days/visit days

• Whether they had applied for accommodation

We then linked them to a Yr 2 Mentor who matched that profile and who was a student on that programme (where we could)

The 250 (minus 6 who withdrew) are now in their first year. Some are now mentors themselves for this current cohort. We are also tracking their engagement and achievement

edgehill.ac.uk

Long-term strategic work across the student life-cycle (3)Access is not just about money (nor is retention)

Relationship building (pre-entry) (3)

HE ‘Drop-in’ events for prospective students (each event consists of a three night, four-day residential) designed to ‘taste’ campus life and the surrounding environment, academic project work and independent living. They also meet academic staff, some of their peers, 2nd and 3rd year students, and gain an awareness of the student experience and support mechanisms on offer.

Prior to the prospective students coming to the Drop-In, all students were asked to create a one-minute video to introduce themselves and describe their ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’. This has proved useful in relationship building, promoting peer support, and an unpressured way to meet teaching staff and other participants:

edgehill.ac.uk

Long-term strategic work across the student life-cycle (3)Access is not just about money (nor is retention)

Relationship building (pre-entry) (4)

edgehill.ac.uk

Long-term strategic work across the student life-cycle (4)Hardship

Remain committed to our Hardship Fund to ensure that no student is forced to leave their course due to financial hardship.

Status 12/13 Number of students % Retention rate

Retained 911 95.00

95.00Withdrawn 48 5.00

Total 959

Status 13/14 Number of students % Retention rate

Retained 952 96.16

96.16Withdrawn 38 3.84

Total 990

edgehill.ac.uk

• Knowing our (prospective) students

• Managing resources to support success

• Shifting funds towards delivering student outcomes