February 2007
Summer schools funding confirmed for 2008-10
HEFCE has announced that it will provide £10.5 million over the period 2008 – 2010 to continue and potentially expand the regional summer school programme.
In the recent review of widening participation undertaken by HEFCE for the DfES, 71 out of the 90 institutions that responded (79%) included summer schools in their list of the five most important activities, while 12 (13.3%) rated summer schools as the most important WP activity overall.
In light of their reported success and popularity, HEFCE has allocated £10.5 million to enable the summer schools to continue for a further two years after the current ESF funding ceases in August 2008. During each year (2008-09 and 2009-10), £1.75 million of the total funding will be used to support summer schools that are jointly funded by higher education institutions. If the funds are fully taken up, this could double the size of the current programme.
HEFCE has also issued a letter to regional leads and summer school co-ordinators regarding the collection and sharing of data relating to summer school participants. Visit Summer Schools to download a copy of the letter.
Dr Viv Wylie, Director of Aimhigher West Midlands, has been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List. Viv was presented with the accolade in recognition of her work and long-term commitment to higher education and widening participation. In addition to her regional role, Viv is also the lead advisor on partnerships for Action on Access.
Of the award she said: “I count myself very lucky in having such a supportive institution [University of Wolverhampton] and loads of fantastic colleagues past and present – all of whom have carried the torch for widening participation and all of whom deserve recognition. I see this MBE as an accolade for widening participation.”
Click on the link below to read the press release, produced by Aimhigher West Midlands:
West Midlands partnership press release
HEFCE report on Foundation Degrees published
A new report describing the key characteristics of Foundation Degree programmes and students has been published by HEFCE. Drawing on statistics derived from the data sets collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and through the National Student Survey, the report covers the following:
- Trends in student numbers
- Programme characteristics
- Attributes of students
- Students’ feedback
- Progression and qualification rates
- Progression to further study and employment outcomes
- Support from employers.
The report highlights that, in 2006-07, over 60,000 students are estimated to have registered, or be registered, on a foundation degree programme.
With reference to the expectation that foundation degrees were to attract young people from a ‘broader range of backgrounds’ and provide an alternative route into HE, the evidence is highly encouraging on both counts. It was found that ‘young entrants included relatively high proportions of students from socio-economic backgrounds where participation in higher education is low’. While the background of mature entrants is unknown, it was identified that ‘many are entering with non-traditional qualifications and it seems likely that many of them would not have entered higher education at all without the development of foundation degrees’.
Visit the HEFCE website to download a copy of the report.
Care Matters consultation
The consultation on the Green Paper – ‘Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People’ – has now closed and the DfES would like to thank those individuals and organisations who responded.
The results are currently being analysed and a response will be published in the Spring. The DfES will then set out how they are taking the Green Paper policies forward in a document to be published in the Autumn.
Four working groups were also set up following the publication of the Green Paper and these will report back in March. The four groups are looking at:
- Reform of placements
- Social care practices
- Best practice in schools
- The future of the care population
If you would like to draw the attention of the working groups to any particular issue, please email carematters.workinggroups@dfes.gsi.gov.uk.