To: Managers responsible for access agreements

Expected timings

We have now received draft guidance from Ministers at BIS setting out the Government’s broad requirements and expectations of how OFFA should approve and monitor access agreements for 2012-13 and beyond. The next stages will be:-

• We will hold discussions with the sector in January and early February 2011
• BIS Ministers will send us a final guidance letter by the end of January
• By mid February we will issue you with detailed guidance on how to draw up access agreements for 2012-13
• You will submit your access agreements for 2012-13 by the end of March
• We will consider and approve all new access agreements by the end of June. This will ensure that applicants know the costs of individual courses, including any bursary or other financial support available, before they start to apply in the autumn of 2011.

Information for prospective 2012-13 students  

Given the above timings, and in the event that you have not decided on your course costs and support levels before your student prospectuses go to print in February or March 2011, we recommend that you include a clear holding statement in your prospectus advising potential applicants of the changes to tuition fee thresholds and encouraging them to consult your website. The latter should be updated as soon as possible. It is up to you to decide on the precise wording of any statements in your prospectus and on your website, but we envisage that statements might be along the following lines:

“At the time of printing, major Government reforms to student finance are underway – these will allow universities to charge tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year from 2012-13.  Universities that want to charge more than the new basic fee of £6,000 will have to meet additional conditions to promote access for disadvantaged students.  We have not yet set our course prices and support levels for the coming year, but, once we have done so, we will update our website as soon as possible. We therefore recommend you to consult our website for this information before you submit your UCAS application for entry to university in autumn 2012.” 

Students applying now for deferred entry in 2012-13

Students applying in the current application cycle for a deferred place in 2012-13 will be eligible for the 2012 student support package.  Please make this clear on your website and in other student literature.

Further updates

As you can see, the timings are tight. We are aware that you need information as soon as possible in order to plan and develop your policies and we will update you with more detailed timings or any changes to the expected timings  as and when we are able. In the meantime, you can find information on the changes to tuition fee thresholds at  www.bis.gov.uk/studentfinance

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.