SPA Seminar Managing Numbers for 2010 Entry Welcome and context 2 June 2010 Janet Graham, Director of SPA

Welcome and What is SPA?  SPA - the Supporting Professionalism in Admissions Programme  Established in 2006 following the Schwartz Report Fair Admissions to Higher Education 2004  UK-wide centre of expertise on admission to HE programmes  Directly funded by all the UK HE funding bodies  Independent – reporting to the SPA Steering Group  A central source of expertise and advice on a wide range of admissions issues, including Good Practice Statements  A resource for individual institutions who wish to enhance excellence in admissions, recruitment and widening inclusion

What is SPA doing to support universities?  Good Practice statements and briefings:  Admissions policies, feedback, interviews, criminal convictions, Entry Profiles, native languages issues, age and admissions, admissions tests, vocational qualifications, part-time admissions and others in progress  Gathering and sharing good practice: visits to over 120 institutions across the UK; SPA events, website, publications  SPA encourages institutions to train all staff involved in admissions to enhance professionalism  Promotes the adoption of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) code of practice on admissions  Key themes: the applicant experience strategy and contextual data

Managing numbers in a changing environment  Increased applications – admissions scene changed permanently even if applications go down in two or three years  Recession and budget deficit  Government and other policy initiatives/ reviews  New coalition government: Social justice, fairness, widening inclusion and professionalism all still on the agenda  Cuts likely to be nationwide, BIG cuts to HE and FE budgets  Fines £3,700 per applicant register per year on course (England)  Each institution needs a management strategy to include admissions and widening participation, and plan for 2011 onwards

SPA and Managing Numbers  SPA available to support HEIs – events such as today - sharing evidence based good practice  Outcome we would like from today is for you to take away ideas and issues which you can consider within your own institutions strategy and plans for the summer and beyond  Group discussion will focus on preparing a priority list/ action plan of things that can be used by institutions to address this years issues  SPA will collate all the points raised here and by HE/FE colleagues not able to attend today, and use them as practical recommendations for the admissions community by end of June

SPA and Managing Numbers  Please complete you feedback form for today’s event and leave it on the table or the front desk  We are particularly keen to learn of issues for 2011 and beyond that SPA can help with, possible event on this September/ October  Please note Michael Hill is here today from the SPA External Evaluation team and he would like to learn your views about the impact of what the SPA team are doing  SPA survey closing date extended to get as many return as possible for the External Evaluation of SPA. Please do respond by 9 June. Michael has more information if you need it.  We will have a SPA/UCAS open surgery session for individual queries at end of today’s formal session

Questions, comments – and examples of good practice - to: or