Many many thanks to my colleagues in Welsh Institutions who have
confirmed that we are all in the same boat, with the likelihood of
having to return Bursary monies because of the restrictive criteria.
We will now seek a meeting with the Funding Body.  And thanks also to
Michael (message below) who has suggested some excellent strategic
action!
Sybil Green


Date sent:              Wed, 9 Jan 2002 13:36:56 +0000
Send reply to:          Admin-student <[log in to unmask]>
From:                   Michael Milne-picken <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:                Re: Designated Bursary Fund
To:                     [log in to unmask]

We had a very large HEFCE Opportunity Bursary allocation for the first round (circa £250k), because of our strong record in widening participation to low participation neighbourhoods and deprived communities.  However we would have struggled to have spent it according to the original criteria,
because these only covered the DfES's then pet priorities of 'Excellence in Cities phases 1 and 2'.  There are no Excellence in Cities phase 1 and 2 areas in the whole of Lancashire and Cumbria, from where we recruit the majority of our students and for whom we are overwhelmingly the largest
recruiter of HE students!  This is solely because we have 'Shire' LEAs rather than 'metropolitan' LEAs - we do have significant areas of low participation, severe deprivation and social discontent (like Burnley, recently in the news), but they were not recognised by the DfES in the initial
criteria for the scheme.

So, we faced the fact that we would either have to distort our recruitment very seriously or underspend the money, despite the need for the funds from our students.

We therefore lobbied the DfES very hard to change the eligibility criteria to make it wider.  The DfES received sackfuls of letters of complaint about the criteria from people like local MPs and local authority leaders and we understand that the issue went all the way up to the Secretary of
State.  We proposed various fairer measures of identifying deprivation and eligibility for the funds, but the one that was eventually conceded by the DfES was to extend eligibility to Education Action Zones, which fortunately we have three of within Lancashire and Cumbria.  This wasn't as far as
we would have liked to have gone (for example, to the Government's shame, it still doesn't include Burnley!) but it was better than nothing.  We have managed to spend the funds, have strenghtened further our links with deprived communities and are looking forward to a new allocation round for
entrants this September.  We are still lobbying to widen the scheme so that it includes other areas of deprivation in the region we serve.

So my advice is to look closely at the criteria and consider what barriers they create and how they might be extended.   Then if you feel they are unfair or insufficiently flexible to target real need, lobby hard to get the authorities to change them, using local networks and partnerships to join
you in this.  It does have an effect!

Good luck.

Mike Milne-Picken
Head of Planning & Performance Review
University of Central Lancashire
PRESTON
PR1 2HE
Tel: +44 (0)1772 892391
Fax: +44 (0)1722 892943
[log in to unmask]
www.uclan.ac.uk/planning

>>> [log in to unmask] 08 January 2002 18:45:57 >>>
Apologies for addressing this to everyone - this is really intended
for colleagues in Welsh HEIs.

In Wales, we did not go down the Opportunity Bursary road but,
alongside our Access Fund allocation, we received a designated
Bursary Fund with the same restrictive eligibility criteria as HEFCE.

Our allocation in 00-01 was £96,236 and we didn't spend it all.  For
0102 our allocation is £327,397 and, despite our best endeavours to
identify eligible candidates, it looks as though we will be returning
a very large sum to ELWA (the Welsh funding body).  Is this situation
being echoed by other Welsh Institutions?  It would also be
interesting to hear about the allocations made to English HEIs and
how they are faring.

I cannot see that the allocated funds have been targeted in the best
way to alleviate student hardship!

I'd really appreciate your comments.

Sybil Green
------------------------------------
Sybil Green
Head of Student Advisory Service
Cardiff University
+44(0)29 2087 4179
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------------
Sybil Green
Head of Student Advisory Service
Cardiff University
+44(0)29 2087 4179
[log in to unmask]