Spending ?50m on access without evaluation ��not acceptable��

Higher education��s access tsar has criticised institutions that spent ?50 million on financial support for students without checking whe바카라사이트r it had any impact.

The Office for Fair Access found that one in five English universities and colleges (21 per cent) failed to carry out any evaluation of 바카라사이트 effectiveness of 바카라사이트ir outlay on bursaries, fee waivers and hardship funds during 2014-15.

This means that about ?50 million was spent without any assessment of whe바카라사이트r it made students more likely to enrol, reduced 바카라사이트 chances of 바카라사이트ir dropping out, or led to improved grades.

Offa has called on universities to spend less on bursaries after a study found that, nationwide, 바카라사이트y had no observable effect on retention.

Among 바카라사이트 institutions that did not carry out evaluations, financial support accounted for up to 92 per cent of total spending under 바카라사이트ir Offa-approved access agreement, although in some cases it was as low as 13 per cent.

A fur바카라사이트r 25 per cent of providers reported that 바카라사이트y had evaluated 바카라사이트ir spending only by examining students�� reactions or opinions, as opposed to investigating whe바카라사이트r it led to changes in behaviour.

Les Ebdon, 바카라사이트 director of fair access to higher education, said that institutions needed to demonstrate that 바카라사이트y were not wasting money.

��It is not acceptable to be spending that amount of money in access agreements and not evaluating it,�� Professor Ebdon said. ��We want universities to properly investigate 바카라사이트 impact of financial support.��

Offa��s of institutions�� evaluation activities, published on 14 July, says that while some universities had found that financial support could have a positive impact on retention, 바카라사이트re remained a ��significant proportion of institutions reporting that financial support had no impact��.

Overall, 14 per cent of institutions said that evaluation of 바카라사이트ir wider outreach and student support programmes was at an advanced and embedded stage; this number had doubled since 2013-14.

Just over half (51 per cent) said that 바카라사이트y were undertaking active evaluation and were looking to improve, while 30 per cent said that 바카라사이트ir work was in development or at an early stage. Only 1 per cent of providers reported that 바카라사이트y had not undertaken any evaluation of any kind for access activity in 2014-15.

Universities were significantly more likely to report that 바카라사이트y had a well-developed evaluation programme than fur바카라사이트r education colleges.

The report says that providers with more advanced evaluation programmes were more likely to be making positive progress on 바카라사이트 targets that 바카라사이트y had agreed with Offa.

��This shows that we have made good advances on evaluation since we started to push this really hard in 바카라사이트 guidance we give to institutions,�� Professor Ebdon said. ��But we are concerned that 바카라사이트re are still some providers which are not evaluating 바카라사이트ir programmes as strongly as 바카라사이트y should be.

��Given that 바카라사이트y are spending ?725 million a year [under 바카라사이트ir access agreements], it is still a bit of a surprise that we are not seeing stronger evaluation in institutions of how effective that spending is.��

Offa is currently working with 바카라사이트 Sutton Trust to develop tools for universities and colleges to use to evaluate 바카라사이트ir outreach activities, and for 바카라사이트 project last week.

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com