Office for Fair Access Gives SOAS Thumbs Up
29 September 2011
SOAS is meeting or exceeding most of its targets to support lower income and under-represented students. These findings are contained in a report by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) which examined SOAS’ widening participation assessments and access agreement.
OFFA is an independent public body that works to safeguard and promote fair access to higher education. Its report, published jointly with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), highlights how much colleges and universities in England have spent on such things as bursaries, scholarships and outreach during 2009/10.
"We're pleased that we are making good progress with attracting under-represented students,” said SOAS Acting Director Professor Nirmala Rao. “We have invested significant funds to ensure we attract people from a variety of backgrounds, and a great deal of work has gone into developing outreach projects that show the many benefits of higher education. Over the last three years, we have seen the number of students who have progressed from access courses to a degree programme at SOAS more than double."
During this period, SOAS spent £826,000 on widening participation activities including £663,000 on student awards. Among the successful projects are free week-long bridging courses for mature students and those who are the first in their families to go to university. In 2009/10 more than 100 students attended these courses. Alongside this, more than 2,000 students from a variety of schools and colleges attended SOAS taster days with debates, masterclasses and language sessions.
In April 2011, SOAS confirmed that it would double its investment in outreach projects and financial support packages for those coming to university in 2012.
The OFFA report reveals that colleges and universities in England spent £395 million on access measures in 2009-10, of which £356 million was spent on awards and scholarships for students from lower income and other under-represented groups. More than 402,000 such students received a bursary or scholarship in this period.
