Commenting on the Government’s White Paper[1], ‘Higher education: students at the heart of the system’, Sir Graeme Davies, Director of Fair Access, said: “We warmly welcome the Government’s strong commitment to widening participation and the enhanced role for OFFA to improve access.
“Universities and colleges are powerful engines of social mobility and the Government is right to ensure that they do all they can to encourage disadvantaged young people with real potential to enter and succeed in higher education, including in the most selective institutions. Across the sector, much has been achieved in the past few years but at the most selective institutions, despite their efforts, access remains comparatively flat.
“The White Paper recognises that OFFA has a crucial role to play in working with and challenging institutions in terms of achieving real progress in widening participation and fair access and, where necessary, improving retention. We are very pleased that our role will now be strengthened and supported with increased resources. This will greatly enhance our ability to work with institutions and monitor their performance and will also better enable us to identify and promote best evidence-based practice.
“We look forward to the appointment of the new director and the review of OFFA’s powers as a regulator while retaining independence and protecting academic freedom.”
Notes to editors
- The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) is an independent, non-departmental public body established under the Higher Education Act 2004 to help promote and safeguard fair access to higher education. The main way we do this is by approving and monitoring ‘access agreements’. All English universities and colleges offering full-time (and in future, part-time, subject to Parliamentary approval) undergraduate higher education courses must have an access agreement with us in order to charge higher fees. Access agreements set out the access measures (e.g. outreach or financial support) that universities and colleges will put in place.
- For more about OFFA, please see our website www.offa.org.uk, particularly the Quick Facts and FAQ in the Press section.
- For further information, contact Zita Adamson, Communications Manager at OFFA, on 0117 931 7272 or 0117 931 7171.
[1] The White Paper can be found at www.bis.gov.uk/hereform