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University pushes for easier access

Newcastle University has ploughed back more money from student tuition fees into bursaries, scholarships and outreach schemes than any other university in the North East, a ‘watchdog’ report has revealed.

The University spent a total of £2.2m - more than a third (34.2 per cent) of the money it collected in 2006-07 from higher fees - on projects aimed at encouraging more young people to study for a degree, especially those from lower income backgrounds or from families with no experience of university education.

The figures were revealed by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) in a report examining the first year that universities were allowed to charge tuition fees of up to £3,000. The first intake of such students was in September 2006.

The OFFA report shows that Newcastle University was top in the whole of the UK for investing tuition fee money in additional outreach programmes. The university has spent £1.2m on projects such as the Partners Programme, the Students into Schools project and the Graduate Ambassadors scheme as well as a wide range of other activities organised by academic departments, such as open days and school visits.

In addition, Newcastle University spent over £1m on bursaries and scholarships. When these two figures and combined, the total is the highest in the North East and one of the highest in the country.

Lesley Braiden, Director of Marketing and Communications at Newcastle University, said: “Outreach activity is vital in terms of reaching young people for whom higher education would otherwise remain a ‘closed book’. This is particularly important in a region which has the lowest progression rate to higher education in the UK.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .