Further to my earlier e-mail, please find below the text of the
documents.
UK Hardship Loan and Access Fund Survey, July 1999
On 7 July an e-mail was sent to two mailing lists
([log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask]), giving
information about the changes to the Hardship Loan scheme and asking
for responses to ten questions. These are attached as Appendix 1.
During the course of the following week, responses were received from
40 institutions; the list of universities and colleges, included as
Appendix 2, shows that there was a fairly wide spread of different
types of institution. 38 included responses about both Hardship
Loans and Access Funds with the other two providing information about
just one aspect each.
The amount of money allocated for Hardship Loans ranged between
£4,000 and £179,350 giving a total of just over two and a half
million pounds. The average allocation was just over £65,000. The
average proportion spent was 49% with 29 out of the 39 institutions
having spent amounts in the range 20% to 60%. One institution
reported having spent only 5% of its allocation, whereas another had
actually spent more than its allocation ('We sought advice from SLC
who could not provide us with a definitive answer on "should we
stop"').
30 institutions reported having certified all 'new' students who
applied. Of the other nine, the rate of success for students varied
considerably: two institutions had only refused one out of more than
200 applicants each; four had turned away between three and seven per
cent of applicants; two had declined 24 or 25%; and one had refused
34%. There did not appear to be any obvious correlation between the
proportion of applicants being certified for a hardship loan and the
amount of the allocation spent.
In 21 institutions, all students had taken out the full £250 and in
18 it appeared that not all students had taken out the full amount
(it was not absolutely clear in the case of four of them). Of the 14
where it was clear, six institutions had just one student each who
had received less than £250, a further six had five or less students
each and two had nine and ten, respectively.
Over sixteen million pounds had been allocated to the institutions
involved in the form of Access Funds. The amounts ranged between
£30,000 and just under £900,000 with an average of a little under
£420,000. Eighteen institutions reported having spent their full
allocation (although in some cases they were still spending the
interest earned) and of the remaining ones, only two expressed any
uncertainty about whether they would spend what they had left over
the summer. Of these, one commented that HEFCW expects funds to be
spent by the end of July rather than the end of August.
The data on average awards were difficult to untangle without further
investigation since some responses gave figures per term or for
different application periods. The following, therefore, refers to
those 25 replies which were in the form of an average award for the
full year. Of these the lowest was £200 and the highest £1527.04
with the overall average standing at approximately £645.
Just over half (20 out of 39) reported that they had insisted that
those students who were eligible for Hardship Loans took one out
before being awarded Access Funds. Of the others, 10 mentioned
specific groups of students who were given special consideration.
These were most often those with childcare costs, particularly single
parents and disabled students. One institution did not insist on
students taking out Hardship Loans before being given help from the
first round of Access Fund awards but did insist before any further
assistance was given from Access. Two institutions said that they
had been prepared to be flexible but that the need had not arisen.
Five institutions commented that although they had not insisted that
certain students take out Hardship Loans, a number of them had
decided to anyway, either at the same time as applying for Access
Fund awards or at a later stage in the year. Some people were not
able to give exact figures of how many students had received Access
Funds without Hardship Loans because they would not be doing their
full analysis until after the end of August. The figures provided by
some institutions, however, together with estimates from others
showed that it was a minority. Most were between three and five
percent with two institutions, at the other end of the range,
estimating 30% and one third respectively.
Pamela Bell-Ashe
AMOSSHE Steering Group
15 July 1999
UK Hardship Loan and Access Fund Survey, July 1999 appendix 1
1. How much money were you allocated for Hardship Loans?
2. How much of this have you spent?
3. What proportion of students who applied to you for
certification for Hardship Loans were successful (please ignore
students who were ineligible because they were 'existing' rather than
'new' students, i.e. did you actually turn anyone away because they
were not in enough hardship?)
4. How many of the students who were successful took out the
full £250?
5. How much money were you allocated for Access Funds?
6. How much of this have you spent?
7. If you have not spent your whole allocation do you envisage
spending the remainder over the summer?
8. What was the average award?
9. Did you insist that those students who were eligible for Hardship
Loans took one out before being awarded Access Funds?
10. If not, what proportion of 'new' students received Access Funds
without a Hardship Loan?
PJB-A.15/7/99
UK Hardship Loan and Access Fund Survey, July 1999 Appendix 2
Aston University
University of Wales, Bangor
University of Bath
University of Bradford
University of Brighton
University of Bristol
Cardiff University
Carmarthenshire College
Canterbury Christchurch University College
University College Chichester
Coventry University
De Montfort University
University of Essex
University of Glamorgan
Glasgow School of Art
Goldsmiths College
University of Greenwich
University of Hertfordshire
University of Huddersfield
University of Hull
Lancaster University
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leicester University
University of Liverpool
University of Manchester
Middlesex University
Newcastle College
University of Wales College, Newport
University of North London
University of Northumbria at Newcastle
Nottingham Trent University
Oxford Brookes University
University of Plymouth
University of Portsmouth
Sheffield Hallam University
Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College
University of Surrey
University of Sussex
University College London
University of the West of England
PJB-A.15/7/99
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Pamela Bell-Ashe
University of Liverpool
Tel: 0151 794 2243
Fax: 0151 794 2249
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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