Who will provide Higher Education Information Advice & Guidance now? Dr. Graeme Atherton Director, AccessHE

End of Aimhigher End of national Aimhigher programme: In £100m investment in HE progression activities for under-represented groups Loss of 1m HE support interventions per year

Post Aimhigher Patchy picture: what’s left looks minimal Some areas of the country have post Aimhigher ‘partnerships’ centred around HE e.g. AccessHE in London, South Yorkshire, Kent, Birmingham However, many do not and picture still not clear All will be non state funded – ‘self sustaining’

The policy landscape OFFA Access Agreements Social Mobility Tsar Higher Education IAG BIS HE White Paper DofE Progression Measure

OFFA and Access Agreements From new Access Agreements Access Agreements outline how HEIs will ensure that access is protected with higher fees Policed by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) Powers to do this not specified yet

Universities replacing Aimhigher? National Scholarship Programme 4 - institutional allocation Fee waivers (non-NSP) Bursaries and scholarships (non-NSP) Outreach Retention TOTAL (not including Government NSP allocation)

BIS – Introducing Contestability 2011 White Paper ‘Putting Students at the Heart of the System’ Contestability in student places: HEIs recruit as many AAB students as they want and an extra 20,000 students to be competed over by those charging under £7500 How will AAB affect HEI engagement with schools/colleges?

BIS Importance of Information Increased information available for students New ways/new providers of this information Placing students at the heart of system? Is the issue; amount of information or the ability to interpret it?

BIS Importance of Information

‘Wider availability and better use of information for potential students is fundamental to the new system. Students will increasingly use the instant communication tools of the twenty first century such as Twitter and Facebook to share their views on their student experience with their friends, families and the wider world. Better informed students will take their custom to the places offering good value for money. In this way, excellent teaching will be placed back at the heart of every student’s university experience.’ BIS (2011) Putting Students at the Heart of the System

BIS ‘The destination measure’ ‘For the first time, we will introduce a measure of how well pupils do when they leave school, including information on how many progress to higher education. This ‘destinations measure’ will act as a strong incentive for schools to make sure that they are preparing young people for success in higher education or employment and are helping them to make choices that are right for them.’ BIS (2011) Putting Students at the Heart of the System

Who will deliver? HEIs – Information but Advice & Guidance…? Schools Colleges National Careers Service Third Sector – (who? How? what?) Private Sector

Cabinet Office Review Social Mobility & Child Poverty Alan Milburn - Appointed by Cabinet Office in 2010 Interim Independent Reviewer of Social Mobility & Child Poverty First report focusing on universities & social mobility Call for evidence now; Final submission 16 th October

Where to now? HEIs Access vs Recruitment tensions are more intense Impartiality in HE led IAG is increasingly fragile Non HE vehicles hugely reduced But policy discourse very active Access has to be taken forward by those in the field

National Access to Higher Education Network (NAHEN) Professionalisation of access work Coherence and connection for the access community Collective voice for access practitioners First discussion meeting tomorrow Aim to have digital hub & event programme launched by January 2012

The presentation & working together For a copy of this presentation or further information about NAHEN Please contact Graeme Atherton on