OFFA guidance on inflationary increases and updating access agreements for 2011-12 (HEIs and FECs)

To: Principal contact for OFFA / Managers responsible for access agreements

26 October 2010

In brief…

Following the announcement of inflationary increases to fees for 2011-12, all institutions with access agreements must confirm their fee limits, bursaries and eligibility thresholds for 2011-12 with OFFA by 16 November 2010.

If you need to make a change to your access agreement from 2011-12, you must notify us and submit a revised access agreement by 16 November 2010. This is also the deadline for institutions that don’t currently have an access agreement and wish to submit one for the first time from 2011-12.¹

The minimum bursary – for students receiving the full maintenance grant and being charged the maximum fee of £3,375 – will increase to £338.

Inflationary increases – the new levels

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has now announced the student support arrangements for 2011-12. These confirm that:

Tuition fees

• the maximum tuition fee payable by students who entered higher education on or after 1st September 2006 and who are being charged variable fees, will increase from £3,290 to £3,375 in 2011-12. This increase represents a 2.7 per cent increase (rounded down to the nearest £5) compared to 2010-11 and will be matched by a corresponding increase in the loan for fees that students can take out
• the maximum fee payable by students who are not being charged variable fees (including students who entered higher education before 1st September 2006), will increase from £1,310 to £1,345
• the maximum fee payable by students in ‘special cases’, e.g. year abroad/sandwich year, will increase from £1,640 to £1,680.

State support thresholds

• the maximum level of Higher Education Maintenance Grant/Special Support Grant will remain at 2010-11 levels, i.e. £2,906
• income thresholds for eligibility for state grants for new entrants in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 will remain at £25,000 for the full grant and £50,020 for a partial grant
• income thresholds for eligibility for state grants for new entrants in 2008-09 will remain at £25,000 for the full-grant and £60,032 for a partial grant
• income thresholds for eligibility for state grants for new entrants in 2006-07 or 2007-08 will remain at £18,360 for the full grant and £39,333 for a partial grant.

Full details are available on the Student Finance England website in a Student Support Information Note (SSIN).

The minimum bursary requirement

Since 2010-11, the minimum bursary has been set at ten per cent of the maximum fee. This means that, for 2011-12, the minimum bursary requirement will be as follows:

• the minimum bursary will increase to £338 for students receiving the full maintenance grant and being charged the maximum fee of £3,375
• if you’re charging a fee of over £3,037 but less than £3,375, you must provide a minimum bursary for students receiving the full maintenance grant which makes up, pound for pound, the difference between £3,037 and the fee charged. For example, if you’re charging a fee of £3,275, your minimum bursary will be £238
• if you’re charging a tuition fee of £3,037 or less, you do not need to provide a minimum bursary.

Further considerations

In finalising your institutional policies around fees, bursaries and additional outreach for 2011-12, we would draw your attention to the following points:

• Fees: If you or your franchise partners currently have courses where the fee charged is less than the maximum fee of £3,290 in 2010-11, the maximum fee increase you can apply without a new access agreement is 2.7 per cent. (Note: You can round to the nearest £5.) If you wish to increase a fee by more than this, a revised access agreement will be required.
• Bursaries: Over and above the minimum bursary, you are not required to make inflationary changes to bursary amounts or eligibility thresholds unless your access agreement commits you to do so. You may, however, wish to review these levels to ensure that the value of your financial support package is not eroded over time. You will also wish to consider our recent research into the impact of bursaries on university choices, alongside your own experiences.
• Milestones and targets: For 2011-12, we are asking all institutions to review their milestones and targets to ensure that they are measurable, and that they reflect their institution’s position and are fit for purpose. For example, if you have milestones and targets linked to the HESA performance indicator relating to ‘low participation neighbourhoods’, you should ensure that your milestone uses the POLAR2 methodology.
• Continuing students: Any changes you make to fees and bursaries will only apply to new students. Continuing students must continue to pay the fee/receive at least the bursary they were originally offered (including inflationary adjustments, where applicable).
• Welsh-domiciled students: Changes in student support for new Welsh-domiciled entrants have been announced from 2011-12. Under these changes, all students who are eligible for the Assembly Learning Grant or the Special Support Grant will receive an increased level of award, wherever they study across the UK. This will result in an increase of up to £600 p.a. in grant for eligible students with residual household incomes of less than £34,000, and Welsh institutions will no longer be required to pay a minimum national bursary to new entrants from 2011/12. English institutions will wish to consider the impact of this change on the bursaries they offer to Welsh students. This could result in institutions choosing to offer these students less, or even no, bursary support.
• Late submissions: We will only consider late submissions in exceptional circumstances. Please contact us as early as possible if, for any reason, you are unable to meet our deadline.

Online financial information

It’s essential that the student finance information on your website is clear and up to date so students can find out about bursaries and other financial support quickly and easily. We are happy for you to advertise your proposed fee and bursary levels for 2011-12 as soon as you have advised us of them; however, you should make clear that these are subject to OFFA approval.

We would also strongly encourage you to make use of SLC’s Financial Information Service, which you can use to promote your bursary information on Directgov, Student Finance Wales and Student Finance NI. The information you provide to FIS is used to populate the Student Finance Calculators and can provide prospective students with bursary / scholarship entitlement for your institution (using rules-based awards), plus supplementary financial information such as course fee information, web address and relevant contact details. SLC will notify you in November when the system is ready to accept information.

What you need to do now

All institutions with access agreements must confirm their fee limits, bursaries and eligibility thresholds for 2011-12 with OFFA by 16 November 2010. This deadline allows us to confirm approved fee limits of institutions and their partners with the Student Loans Company prior to the start of the student finance application process.

You must also confirm any franchise partners that will be covered by your access agreement in 2011-12, together with the maximum fee level that each partner will be charging.

How to send us confirmation

• if you simply wish to confirm the level of your financial support for 2011-12 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 complete the fee and bursary update template and submit it to us by 16 November 2010
• 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 complete the fee and bursary update template and submit this to OFFA, as well as an updated access agreement, by 16 November 2010. This will also apply if you are updating your access agreement to reflect the content of your widening participation strategic assessment.

Please send your completed update templates and amended agreements to accessagreements@offa.org.uk.

Got a query?

If you have any queries about how to confirm your financial support for 2011-12 or submit a revised or new access agreement, please contact Chris Scrase or Richard Smith by emailing enquiries@offa.org.uk or phoning 0117 931 7171.

¹ Institutions wishing to submit an access agreement for the first time should visit www.offa.org.uk/universities-and-colleges/writing-an-access-agreement/ for further guidance on developing an access agreement.