Students and the Student Experience Robin Parker NUS Scotland President

Who we are… NUS Scotland, who we are: Federation of 60 local Students’ Associations in Scotland Collectively represent over 500,000 students in Scotland, mainly studying in Colleges and Universities

Taking Stock… £15m more in bursary support in students’ pockets Over 32,000 s sent to MSPs Won SCVO’s Campaign of the Year Award at the Scottish Charities’ Awards Over 4,000 students taking to the streets Get the vote out campaigns across students’ associations 87% of new MSPs signed up to the Reclaim Your Voice commitments

Taking stock Public and Political Consensus : Tuition Fees & Funding

Taking stock What kind of Scotland? What kind of education? Fair Access

Why care about fair access? Scotland’s record on widening access: Ratio of students from poorer backgrounds compared to richer in different levels of education? FE & HE combined– 1 to 1 (roughly equal) Just HE (inc College) – 2 to 3 (poor to rich) Just university level – 1 to 3 (poor to rich) The higher the level of qualification, the less likely you are to be from a poorer background.

Why care about fair access? State school Socio economic /092007/082006/072008/092007/082006/07 UK88.5%88%87.8%33.2%29.5%29.8% England88%87.4%87.2%32.4%29.4%29.8% Wales93.2%93.4%93.1%32.5%30.4%30.1% Scotland86.7%86.8%86.6%28.2%26.3%25.9% N Ireland99.5%99.7%99.6%41.7%40.6%41.7% Table 1 - HEI Widening access rates - Percentage of entrants to Scottish universities from state schools and socio economic groups (young, full time, first degree entrants)

Why care about fair access? Scotland’s record on drop-out: University drop-out rates (from 1 st year) Drop out 08/0907/0806/07 UK8.6%9.0%8.6% England8.4%8.7%8.3% Wales9.2%10.9%9.5% Scotland9.9%10.6%10.1% N Ireland10.2%9.2%11.3%

Why care about fair access? Scotland has among the worst widening access and drop-out rates in the UK. We want to prioritise improving this record, through the whole of the next Parliament. It is time to make our public education, Fully open to the public

Why care about fair access? Where’s your institution on widening access? What’s your responsibility as a Governor? What data do you (could you) have? Who are your students and how does that fit with your educational mission? If you are selecting is your institution finding the students with the most potential? What is your institution doing to improve access and retention?

Learner Journey The Learner Journey School/College/University… & More! Creating more flexibility, opportunity and choice for students… So many options for students – How do you navigate all of that? – How do you make who does what fairer?

Learner Journey Institutional Funding £135m from the Spending Review £80-90m from RUK fees? How much of this will feel like ‘new money’? Where will you as governors prioritise that? How do Universities demonstrate the value of this cash injection to the public?

Learner Journey RUK more thoughts How ready really is your institution for this much competition? Getting the price right. What does the market place look like from a student’s perspective? Bursaries could play a crucial role. Have to get this offering right.

Governance Challenges: Public funding = Public accountability Demonstrating transparency internally and externally

Governance Democratic Accountability Student Involvement – Critical Students as co- producers not customers John McCormick (2011): Achievement and Accountability - Report of the Independent Review of HE Governance in Wales

Student Experience themes: Retention Contact hours & feedback Quality Enhancement Employability & Enterprise Placements Real-world relevancy Fundamental: Engaged Students

What are we going to do? Questions?