By . Suggestion that wrangle over Access to Learning Fund is now delaying letter.
The “unexpected delay” in the government sending its grant letter on funding for higher education in England has forced a new student access strategy to be postponed. More...
Due to be launched in autumn 2103 the National Strategy for Access and Student Success – in England - has still not been published. The strategy, jointly developed by HEFCE and OFFA, was designed to provide a framework for universities and colleges with Access Agreements to develop their own five-year institutional strategies. Neither have we seen the guidance for production of the 2015/16 Access Agreement which was scheduled for publication on 23 January. Of course effective delivery of a strategy is dependent on resources and, with BIS suffering budget reductions, we can only surmise that cuts in funding are the reason for the delay. If members have information on the situation in the rest of the UK it would be very interesting to hear as these cuts could have a significant impact on our work. More...
By Karen Kleiss. Critics blame 'draconian' budget cuts for lowered access to classes. A new report issued by a coalition of student groups shows the vast majority of Alberta's post-secondary education students believe government should take steps to make education more accessible and affordable. Nine in 10 students place high importance on a postsecondary education system that has "affordable" and "predictable costs," while more than 80 per cent say government can decrease debt loads and increase participation rates by offering more grants and bursaries that need not be repaid. More...
By Graeme Paton. Major inquiry chaired by Sir Roy Anderson, former rector of Imperial College London, criticises "outdated" A-levels and calls for them to be replaced by a baccalaureate.
A-levels should be scrapped in favour of a European-style baccalaureate because schools are failing to prepare teenagers for university and the workplace, a major report has warned.
Traditional “gold standard” qualifications should be phased out over six to eight years to give pupils a grounding in a wider range of subjects and job skills, according to a powerful lobby of academics and business leaders. More...
By Scott Jaschik. After four years of legal battles, a hearing-impaired student has won the court order he sought to force Creighton University's medical school to provide specific accommodations that he says will allow him to succeed academically. U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp on Friday ordered Creighton to provide Michael S. Argenyi with Communication Access Real-time Transcription (CART) and sign-supported oral interpreters. Read more...
By Scott Jaschik. After four years of legal battles, a hearing-impaired student has won the court order he sought to force Creighton University's medical school to provide specific accommodations that he says will allow him to succeed academically. U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp on Friday ordered Creighton to provide Michael S. Argenyi with Communication Access Real-time Transcription (CART) and sign-supported oral interpreters. Read more...
By Sara Goldrick-Rab. A recent New York Times op-ed blames the rules and regulations of the federal Pell Grant program for many of our nation’s higher education access and completion problems. In short, the authors contend that the rule that defines a full-time course load as 12 or more credits per term hinders students from graduating early or even on time. Read more...
The government's decision to scale down its own much heralded student scholarship scheme has surprised many of us (Report, 23 November). Yes, we knew cuts were coming because of the absence of controls over student number growth outside universities and through the determination to preserve the science and research budget. We knew the cuts would focus on reducing student mobility by disinvestment in access measures. We knew it was likely that the poorer in society would probably be hit the hardest. The surprise has been the response of the independent regulator, the Office for Fair Access. More...
By . Adequate funding has been allotted for universities to meet the cost of open access, the government has maintained.
The comments come in a response to an inquiry by the Commons Business, Innovation and Skills committee, whose final report in September questioned aspects of the way open-access policy has been formulated.
In its response – published by the BIS committee today - the government said that universities have now received “adequate funding” from Research Councils UK to meet the cost of open access. More...
By Graeme Paton. Research warns that exam results alone cannot explain why relatively wealthy students are much more likely to get into top universities than those from working class families.
Students from working-class families are around three times less likely to get into a top university than their richer peers despite often having the required A-level grades, according to research. Academic results at the age of 18 cannot explain the huge gulf in entry rates to the most sought-after degree courses in England, it was claimed.
The study warned that many bright teenagers from poor homes were opting for lower ranking universities rather than striving for the top institutions. More...
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