To: Principal contact for OFFA / Managers responsible for access agreements
In brief…
All SCITTs must confirm their fee limits, bursaries and eligibility thresholds for 2010-11 with OFFA by 30 October 2009:
- if you need to make a change to your access agreement from 2010-11 you must notify us and submit a revised access agreement. This is also the deadline for SCITTs that don’t currently have an access agreement and wish to submit one for the first time from 2010-11.
- the minimum bursary will increase to £329.
- the government announcement covering grants and student support for academic year 2010-11 includes a number of changes that will affect postgraduate initial teacher training students.
Background information
In July 2009, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced the student support arrangements for 2010-11. These confirmed that:
- the maximum variable fee would increase from £3,225 to £3,290 in 2010-11.
- the maximum level of Higher Education Maintenance Grant/Special Support Grant would remain at £2,906, the same level as for 2009-10.
Following this announcement we have decided that the minimum bursary from 2010 onwards will be ten per cent of the maximum fee. If you would like to know more about the reasons for this decision please visit our website here: http://www.offa.org.uk/universities-and-colleges/guidance-and-useful-information/the-minimum-bursary-from-2010-11/.
What this means for SCITT providers
The minimum bursary requirement
For 2010-11, the minimum bursary requirement will be as follows:
- the minimum bursary will increase by above inflation to £329 for trainees receiving the full maintenance grant and being charged the maximum fee of £3,290
- if you’re charging a fee of over £2,961 but less than £3,290, you must provide a minimum bursary for trainees receiving the full maintenance grant which makes up, pound for pound, the difference between £2,961 and the fee charged. For example, if you’re charging a fee of £3,190, your minimum bursary will be £229
- if you’re charging a tuition fee of £2,961 or less, you do not need to provide a minimum bursary.
Institutions that currently offer the minimum bursary
Although we have set the minimum bursary at £329 for 2010-11, when finalising the bursary level for trainees receiving the full maintenance grant, you will want to give consideration to how best to ensure that trainees from poorer backgrounds are not deterred from applying to you on financial grounds.
SCITTs which currently charge the maximum fee and offer a bursary of £319 in 2009/10 may wish to consider maintaining the link between the minimum bursary and the maximum state maintenance grant by offering a bursary of £384 in 2010/11. However, there is no expectation that you should to do so and we recognise that you may judge that this proportion of your additional fee income would be more usefully spent on enhancing the experience of trainees, or increasing other widening participation activity.
Once you have finalised the level of your bursaries you may need to amend your access agreement for 2010-11 to ensure that the wording is consistent with the new arrangements and the decision you have reached.
Other bursaries
Over and above the minimum bursary, you are not required to increase your bursary amounts or eligibility thresholds unless your access agreement commits you to do so. However, you may wish to review these levels to ensure that the value of your financial support package is not eroded over time.
Inflationary increases to fees and state support thresholds
The Government announcement on fee levels and student support arrangements for 2010-11 included some key changes that will affect postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) students:
- for full-time postgraduate trainees the financial support for new entrants to postgraduate and equivalent ITT courses will be aligned with what is available for undergraduates in general. The non-means tested element of the maintenance grant will cease
- from 1 August 2010, new students starting part-time ITT courses will no longer be eligible for the full-time fee and maintenance support package. However, they will be eligible to apply for a part-time means-tested fee grant of up to £1,230 (the maximum will depend on the intensity of study on the course) and a means-tested course grant of up to £265.
Full details are available on the Student Finance England website in a Student Support Information Note (SSIN).
Tuition fees:
- the maximum tuition fee payable by trainees who entered higher education on or after 1st September 2006 and who are being charged variable fees, will increase from £3,225 to £3,290 in 2010-11. This increase represents a 2.04 per cent increase compared to 2009-10 and will be matched by a corresponding increase in the loan for fees that trainees can take out
- the maximum fee payable by trainees who are not being charged variable fees will increase from £1,285 to £1,310.
State support thresholds:
- the maximum level of Higher Education Maintenance Grant/Special Support Grant will remain at 2009-10 levels, i.e. £2,906
- income thresholds for eligibility for state grants for new entrants in 2010-11 will remain at £25,000 for the full grant and £50,020 for a partial grant
- if you have any trainees continuing from previous years please contact us directly for details.
What you need to do now
All SCITT providers must confirm their fee limits, bursaries and eligibility thresholds for 2010-11 with OFFA by 30 October 2009.
How to send us confirmation:
- if you simply wish to confirm the level of your financial support for 2010-11 under terms set out in your existing access agreement (for example, your access agreement specifies that each year you will apply an inflationary increase to fees or bursaries), you should set this out in an email and return it to us to by 30 October 2009
- if you wish to submit a new access agreement, or make changes to an existing access agreement – that is, changes that are not specified in your current access agreement – then you should send an updated access agreement, by 30 October 2009.
Please send your documents to accessagreements@offa.org.uk.
Got a query?
If you have any queries please contact Chris Scrase or Richard Smith by emailing enquiries@offa.org.uk or phoning 0117 931 7171.