On the 17 June 2021, the Department for Education responded to a written question on higher education student premium funding.
The question, asked by Labour MP for Sheffield Central, Paul Blomfield, inquired into what percentage of higher education student premium funding was spent on improving both access and graduate support in each of the last 10 years.
The Government’s full response is below:
Higher Education: Finance
Department for Education
17 June 2021
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what percentage of higher education student premium funding was spent on improving (a) access and (b) graduate support in each of the last 10 years.
Michelle Donelan: Student premium funding forms part of the Strategic Priorities Grant allocated to higher education (HE) providers by the Office for Students (OfS). HE providers are autonomous institutions, as prescribed under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, independent from government, and we do not collect data on how student premium funding is spent.
All HE providers wishing to charge tuition fees above the basic fee level (£6,000+) and to be eligible for funding from the Strategic Priorities Grant must agree an access and participation plan with the OfS, setting out their targets and planned expenditure to improve access and participation based on their priorities, and the gaps they need to address for their own institution. The OfS requires a robust evaluation strategy to be in place and for HE providers to publish reports showing the impact of their access and participation activities and expenditure.
Through their access and participation plans, providers deliver a range of activity such as schools outreach, attainment-raising activity, summer schools, financial support, and support targeted at key groups such as care leavers. The OfS cannot set targets or define activity – it is has a statutory duty to protect institutional autonomy over admissions and academic freedom.
Individual provider access and participation plans are published and can be found on the OfS website here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/theregister/search-for-access-and-participation-plans/#/AccessPlans/.