Memorandum 99
Submission from the National Audit Office
(NAO)
INTRODUCTION
1. This memorandum by the National Audit
Office sets out the findings from our reports on widening participation[359]
and student retention[360]
in higher education relevant to the Committee's inquiry into students
and universities. Both of these reports relate to the position
in England.
2. The two reports provide substantial evidence
under the Admissions and Student Support and Engagement
themes to be covered by the inquiry. This memorandum follows
the ordering of the Committee's invitation for evidence.
3. Access to higher education and success within
it will provide most students with greater opportunities for the
rest of their lives. Over their working life graduates have been
shown to earn, on average, over £100,000 more than similar
non-graduates with A levels.[361]
Employers, the economy, and society as a whole benefit when students
complete their studies. The Department for Innovation, Universities
and Skills has overall responsibility for public spending on higher
education in England and had, at the time of the studies, the
objectives of raising and widening participation while bearing
down on rates of non-completion. Progress on each of these objectives
between 1999-2000 and 2005-06 was not linear (Figure 1).
4. There is a balance to be achieved between
these priorities, as increasing and widening participation brings
in more students from under-represented groups who may need more
support to complete their courses.
ADMISSIONS
Study remit
5. For the widening participation report
we assessed the progress of the Department for Innovation, Universities
and Skills (the Department), the Higher Education Funding Council
for England (the Funding Council), the Office for Fair Access
and higher education institutions in England on whether:
— participation of under-represented groups
in higher education had increased;
— initiatives taken by the Department,
the Funding Council, the Office for Fair Access and higher education
institutions to widen participation had been effective; and
— higher education provision was delivered
in a way that addressed the barriers to widening participation.
Admissions to higher education
6. A large number of organisations play
a role in widening participation (Figure 2).
7. Between the academic years 1999-2000
and 2005-06, participation in higher education increased from
39% to 43% of people aged between 18 and 30 years.
8. When we reviewed progress over the previous
five years there had been improvements in the participation of
some groups in higher education, but not for all groups, and some
remained significantly under-represented in higher education.
We found that:
— White people from lower socio-economic
backgrounds, both men and women, were the most under-represented
group.
— The participation rate for men was 10
percentage points below that for women.
— Socio-economic background remained a
strong determinant of higher education participation with the
participation of young, full-time students from lower socio-economic
backgrounds having improved by two percentage points over the
previous four years. People from lower socio-economic backgrounds
made up around one half of the population of England, but represented
29% of young, full-time, first-time entrants to higher education.
— Young people living in deprived areas
had experienced an increase in participation of 4.5 percentage
points since 1998 compared with an increase of 1.8 percentage
points in the least deprived areas.
— Those from non-white ethnic groups were
better represented than white people.
— There were other groups for whom it was
difficult to assess participation because of incomplete data.
9. Gaps in the data provided by students
reduced the reliance that could be placed on some measures of
participation, particularly in relation to socio-economic background
and for part-time students. The Department had developed a new
measure of participation of young people by social class[362]
and was linking pupil data with higher education student records
and admissions data.
10. The attainment of qualifications by
students at secondary school or college played a critical role
in gaining access to higher education. Low achievement was the
principal reason for the difference between rates of participation
in higher education for different groups. Notably, all applicants
with the necessary qualifications were equally likely to accept
a higher education place as others with the same level of attainment,
regardless of their family background.[363]
11. Each institution has individual benchmarks
representing the expected participation for each group, given
particular characteristics (such as subject of study, age and
entry qualifications) of the students it recruits.[364]
On average, post-1992 institutions performed at or significantly
above their benchmarks, while the English Russell Group institutions
(16 of the most research intensive institutions) performed on
average at or significantly below their benchmarks.
12. Performance indicators published by
the Higher Education Statistics Agency[365]
showed that there was variation across higher education institutions
in recruiting students from under-represented groups.[366]
For example in 2006-07, around one fifth of institutions performed
significantly better than expected in recruiting young people
from areas with low participation, while a similar proportion
performed significantly worse than expected.
13. A range of new qualifications, modes
of delivery and entry support were enabling students from under-represented
groups to achieve success in higher education. Some institutions
were making use of new practices in learning and teaching, such
as foundation degrees and part-time provision, to diversify the
way higher education is delivered and widen opportunity. Institutions
were working with further education colleges to offer a greater
range of higher education opportunities.
14. People from lower socio-economic backgrounds
and older applicants not applying directly from school or college
were less likely to have access to advice and assistance when
applying to higher education. At the time we reported, higher
education institutions had recently moved the deadline for applications
back by a month, allowing teaching staff more time to advise and
produce references for students they may have taught for a relatively
short period. This development in the admissions process was of
particular benefit to applicants from under-represented groups
who attend further education and sixth-form colleges.
Targets for participation
15. The Government's 2003 White Paper, The
Future of Higher Education, included a commitment to widen participation
in higher education, by helping more people from under-represented
groups, particularly lower socio-economic backgrounds, to participate
successfully in higher education. This commitment sat alongside
a policy to increase participation of those aged 18 to 30 towards
50% by 2010.
16. Institutions additionally set their
own targets or milestones for widening participation. Since 2006
the Office for Fair Access has approved an "access agreement"
for each institution wishing to charge variable tuition fees,
setting out what actions the institution will take to promote
and safeguard access for low income groups. If there is a serious
and wilful breach of an access agreement by an institution, the
Office for Fair Access can impose financial sanctions. This may
include refusing to renew the institution's access agreement,
thus denying it permission to charge tuition fees above the basic
level, or instructing the Funding Council to suspend part of an
institution's grant. When we reported, access agreements had been
in place for two years and the Office for Fair Access had not
yet identified any breaches of access agreements.
Widening participation initiatives
17. In general, the long-term nature of
widening participation activities makes evaluating their effectiveness
difficult for institutions and policy makers.
18. The Funding Council had plans to assess
the effectiveness of the two national programmes with widening
participation aims, and our surveys suggested that both programmes
were well received by participants, schools and institutions.
— The Department and the Funding Council
fund the Aimhigher programmes of outreach activities broadly aimed
at increasing young people's aspirations to study in higher education.
The Funding Council had recently introduced measures to improve
evaluation and all Aimhigher partnerships were required to submit
an evaluation plan for 2008-11.
— The Funding Council also funds the Lifelong
Learning Networks which were set up from 2004 to improve progression
for vocational learners. When we reported it was too early to
determine if they were meeting their objectives but interim evaluations
and our review indicated progress was being made. The Funding
Council was planning a full evaluation to start in 2009-10 or
2010-11.
19. Institutions were working with schools
to improve pupil progression. In 2007 the Funding Council issued
guidance on how institutions and programmes could target activities
at low participation areas and people from lower socio-economic
backgrounds.
20. Family expectation or tradition of higher
education involvement was particularly significant in encouraging
young people to undertake higher education. Some families had
inaccurate perceptions of higher education and its benefits and
may not have supported young people's aspirations to higher education.
We found some examples of institutions working with communities,
parents and children of primary school age to address attitudes
towards higher education.
21. Generally the Funding Council did not
directly fund widening participation activities in institutions.
Instead since 1999-2000, the Funding Council has allocated a proportion
of its teaching grant based on the types of students recruited,
recognising that students from under-represented groups or with
lower entry qualifications were likely to cost more to teach and
retain, and counteracting a disincentive to recruit them. It allocated
recurrent funding for widening participation to institutions in
proportion to the number of existing students from under-represented
groups and gave £392 million in recurrent funding to institutions
between 2001-02 and 2007-08. Figure 3 shows the range of sources
and amounts of funding for widening participation for 2006-07.
22. Nearly all institutions (103 out of
123) chose to use part of their variable tuition fee income to
support additional outreach activities in schools or communities,
with the aim of encouraging participants to consider higher education.
These activities cost an average of £200,000 per institution
and amounted to £21 million in total. There is no requirement
for institutions to use tuition fee income to fund outreach activities
and the Office for Fair Access regards such use as an indication
of institutions' commitment to widening participation.
Role of government
23. In the interests of reducing bureaucracy,
access agreements that institutions agree with the Office for
Fair Access had superseded the requirement to report on widening
participation strategy and objectives directly to the Funding
Council. As a result, there was insufficient information about
institutions' activities to widen participation, and the Department,
the Funding Council and the Office for Fair Access were considering
how institutions might bring together their widening participation,
fair access and admission policies into a single strategic document
which would be made public.
24. There were geographical areas with little
or no local provision of higher education,[367]
whereas increasing numbers of students wanted to study locally
or live at home while attending higher education. There had been
some progress in increasing provision in such areas, for example
through satellite campuses or joint working with further education
colleges. The Department had announced a new policy, the "new
university challenge", recognising that more needed to be
done to expand local and regional higher education.
25. Information, advice and guidance on
career options and pathways through education were of variable
quality and lacked one-to-one engagement. Poor advice and guidance
can lead to individuals making poor choices of qualifications
to study at school and college, making unrealistic applications
to higher education or not applying at all. In 2007, the Department
for Children, Schools and Families published new quality standards
for young people's information, advice and guidance.
26. Widening participation activities were
embedded in some programmes aimed at older learners, such as Lifelong
Learning Networks[368]
and employer engagement programmes.
Overall value for money conclusion
27. We concluded that the Department's and
the Funding Council's expenditure on widening participation cannot
be directly related to changes in participation rates as there
were other factors affecting participation, in particular the
prior attainment of students. Existing analyses suggested that
there had been some improvement in participation of some under-represented
groups, but progress had not been uniform across the sector. Limited,
often qualitative evaluations suggested specific activities were
effective at widening participation. There was scope for improving
the achievement of value for money through directing activities
towards those individuals who would benefit the most, and building
in evaluation measures when setting up widening participation
initiatives.
STUDENT SUPPORT
AND ENGAGEMENT
Study remit
28. In our examination of retention on higher
education courses, we considered whether the sector was improving
its already high level of performance in retaining undergraduates
on their courses (foundation degrees, honours degrees, undergraduate
credits, higher national diplomas, higher national certificates
and other higher education diplomas). In particular we looked
at whether:
— the sector's performance on retention
had improved since it was reviewed by the Committee of Public
Accounts in 2001-02;
— the Funding Council could do more to
encourage the sector to improve retention of students; and
— higher education institutions could do
more to improve retention of students.
The university experience
29. As autonomous bodies, most of the impetus
and actions for sustaining and improving retention rest with higher
education institutions.
30. Much of what an institution does is
likely to affect the quality of the student experience and therefore
student success and retention. There were two especially important
areas where we concluded that an institution can target their
work and make a difference. These were:
— getting to know their students and how,
generally, they felt about their particular course of study and
the culture and amenities offered in the institution; and
— developing a positive approach to retention-related
activities that recognised how they could also improve student
success, and so attract students to take up services who might
otherwise not do so.
Non-completion of higher education courses
31. There are two measures of retention.
The first is the "completion rate", which is the proportion
of starters in a year who continue their studies until they obtain
their qualification, with no more than one consecutive year out
of higher education. But higher education courses take years to
complete. A more immediate measure of retention is the proportion
of an institution's intake which is enrolled in higher education
in the year following their first entry to higher education. This
is the "continuation rate".
32. Retention of full-time, first degree
students since 1999-2000 is presented in Figure 4. While the rate
of improvement was small, it needs to be placed in the context
of the United Kingdom's higher estimated graduation rate than
most other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development[369]
and the growth in participation in higher education over the same
period.
33. From the published performance indicators,
of the 256,000 full-time, first degree students starting higher
education in 2004-05, 91.6% continued into a second year. In terms
of completion 78.1% were expected to qualify with a first degree
with a further 2.2% expected to obtain a lower qualification,
and 5.8% expected to transfer to another institution to continue
their studies. From our analysis of the 50,000 part-time first
degree students starting in 2004-05, 76.9% continued into their
second year.
34. Our statistical analysis indicated that
variations in continuation rates between subjects and types of
institution were largely due to the characteristics of students,
including their level of pre-entry qualifications. However, when
all other factors are taken into consideration, the analysis showed
that:
— a full-time, first-degree student was
much more likely to continue their studies into a second year
than a similar part-time student;
— a full-time student with three A levels
at grade A was much more likely to continue than a similar student
with two A levels at grade D; and
— a part-time student registered with a
higher education institution but taught in a further education
college was more likely to continue than a similar student in
a higher education institution.
35. In 2002, the Committee of Public Accounts
recommended that the Funding Council should continue to bear down
on wide variations in performance between institutions, focusing
on underperforming institutions. Our tests showed no statistically
significant difference in the distribution.[370]
36. To inform the assessment of performance,
the Higher Education Statistics Agency calculates a benchmark
for each institution, which takes account of students' entry qualifications
and subjects studied.[371]
Because the benchmark is an average based on students in all institutions
in the United Kingdom, some institutions will be above the benchmark
and some below. For most institutions in 2004-05, actual continuation
and benchmark figures were similar: 73% of institutions in the
top quarter for continuation rates remained in the top half after
adjustment for their benchmark, while 13% of institutions in the
bottom quarter moved to the top half after adjustment.
37. The Higher Education Statistics Agency
publishes a range of performance information on institutions,
including the Higher Education Performance Indicators, listing
institutions' retention of students. As well as helping make institutions
accountable, publication of the performance information provided
an external incentive for institutions to improve retention because
it affected their reputation and hence their student recruitment.
38. The Funding Council and some of its
partners also have a role in encouraging the sharing of good practice
on retention and related issues, which they aim to fulfil primarily
through additional funding of certain institutions to share good
practice. The sector had access to a wide range of advice on good
practice in retention, although we found that there was relatively
little evaluation of the impact and transferability of practice.
Student support and engagement
39. Students leave their courses early for
a range of reasons, but there is rarely one single reason why
a student gives up their course. Reasons are likely to be a mix
of personal (most common), institutional and course related, and
financial (Figure 5).
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| 5 Examples of early leavers
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Leaving early because a new opportunity arose
P chose his university because he had heard good things about the city. He had felt a degree would stand him in good stead for the future, but as his studies progressed he decided that he wanted to be a martial arts instructor. He did not feel the need to continue his course and made a positive choice to leave when an opportunity arose.
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Financial pressure
L was a mature student, studying for a degree in the evenings at her local university while she continued to work full time. She was supporting two children. When L found out that she was not eligible for a grant or loan herself as her income was too high, she decided not to continue. L plans to re-start her studies once her children are older.
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Poor Choice of course
G was a full-time science student, at a university recommended by his school. He found the first year much harder work than he had expected, and he had not realised the requirement to attend all laboratory sessions to pass the course or that the course included a physics element. He left after failing the first year, and intends to study a different subject at another institution.
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A difficult decision to leave
M was a mature student studying at a university near home. Following a serious car accident she took a three-year leave of absence. Though the university was very supportive when she returned, M found that the course content had moved on and she withdrew as she expected to fail the exams. Because she felt that she had let everyone down, she did not consult anyone at the university about her decision to leave.
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Transferring between institutions
Q chose her university because of its reputation. However, after the first few weeks the course was not meeting her expectations which were based on pre-course reading material. She also found her personal tutor unsupportive. Having made enquiries at another university, which she found very helpful, she transferred.
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| Source: National Audit Office telephone survey of early leavers
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40. We concluded that there were a number of specific
activities that institutions were using to enhance retention,
and important activities are set out in Figure 6 (overleaf).[372]
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| 6 Actions to improve retention |
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| Action | Description
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| Management information | Most institutions collate and disseminate internal information on withdrawal rates at course and faculty level. Others also use student level information, for example on attendance, to identify students at risk of withdrawal. A minority of institutions conduct periodic exercises to contact early leavers to help establish the real reasons why they left, particularly where some common issue affecting retention is indicated.
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Strategic commitment to
retention |
It is important for institutions to have a clear strategic commitment to retaining students that all staff understand buy into, so that they can see how commitment to high levels of retention should affect the way they work.
All the institutions visited were undertaking some activities to improve retention, but not all were based on a clear strategy for the whole organisation. Even at institutions where the strategy was clear, senior managers acknowledged that some parts of their institution were demonstrating greater commitment than others.
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Commitment from
students | Students need to commit to attending lectures and carrying out independent study. Universities can communicate clearly to students and follow up cases where commitment seems not to have been secured.
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| Support through academic provision | Properly resourced tutoring systems help individual students to identify the extra support and facilities they can use to improve their chances of success. Institutions often offer pre-entry courses and learning support opportunities, but many institutions find it difficult to get students to take up services that would help them to `stay the course' and succeed. This can be because students and academic staff may regard the services being there to fill a `deficit' in a student's ability, but institutions can increase take-up by promoting these services as positive options to take to improve the prospects of a good degree.
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Broaden options for
learning | Some institutions and in particular those with higher numbers of non-traditional students are being flexible in allowing students to choose learning options to fit their personal circumstances for example through comprehensive nodular systems.
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| Provides specialist support | All institutions provide specialist support services, such as welfare. They are increasingly organised as a `one stop shop; and student unions usually have an important role in their provision.
Financial support, through bursaries and hardship funds, is available to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds or in financial difficulty. Some institutions are more proactive in promoting financial support than others.
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| Source: National Audit Office case study visits and literature review
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41. From September 2006 institutions were able to charge
new, full-time students tuition fees up to a maximum value of
£3,000 in 2006-07 and £3,070 in 2007-08, subject to
an agreement approved by the Office for Fair Access. Most institutions
were charging the full fees when we reported, although a small
number charged less than the maximum and some charged different
fees for different courses. Institutions charging tuition fees
of more than £2,765, the value of the full maintenance grant
in 2007-08, had to offer additional financial help in the form
of bursaries. Students eligible to receive a full maintenance
grant had to be offered a bursary or other help that would at
least make up the difference between the full maintenance grant
and the tuition fee rate.
42. Institutions are required to determine what proportion
of their additional tuition fee income they plan to spend on bursaries
to support students from low-income families. In the first year
of the new tuition fee regime (2006-07), institutions spent a
total of £96 million (21%) of the total additional fee income
on bursaries, although the proportion varied considerably by institution;
out of 120 institutions which offered bursaries, 18 allocated
over 30% to bursaries, and 32 allocated less than 15%.
43. As many as 12,000 students entering higher education
in 2006-07 on full state support did not apply for a bursary although
many were likely to have met the necessary criteria. The Office
for Fair Access believed students either were not aware of bursaries
or did not fully understand if they were eligible. Information
on financial assistance is available from a range of sources:
individual institutions are responsible for marketing bursaries
and various organisations are involved in publicising loans and
grants. It was planned that from 2009-10 the Student Loans Company
will take over responsibility for administering all student financial
information and plans to introduce an integrated on-line calculator
to enable students to determine their eligibility for financial
support.
44. The relationship between the higher education financial
system and the number of applications is a complex one, but by
the time we reported the introduction of variable tuition fees
and more generous financial support for students did not appear
to have reduced the number of applications to higher education.
There was no early evidence of a correlation between the level
of an institution's bursaries and applications. There was little
research on the impact of tuition fees on those who may have considered
but not applied to higher education and some students continued
to have a poor understanding of the financial support available.
45. We found that part-time students in higher education
(who are more likely to be mature students) had access to more
limited student support, had to pay their tuition fees up front
and were often not eligible for bursaries.
46. We identified a common issue across institutions
relating to students with disabilities. Some students with disabilities
are entitled to financial assistance (Disabled Students' Allowances).
We found that students receiving an Allowance were much more likely
to continue their course than other students self-declaring a
disability and, indeed, than students who are not disabled.[373]
Although the number receiving an Allowance had increased, at some
institutions an Allowance was obtained by less than 10% of self-declared
disabled students studying full time or at least more than half
time, and at other institutions over 70% obtained an Allowance.
Overall value for money conclusion
47. We concluded that, compared internationally, higher
education in England achieved high levels of student retention.
The improvements, when reviewed in 2007, were considered a good
achievement. However, the gap between higher education institutions
with the highest and lowest levels of retention (taking account
of their student and subject profiles), and a minority of institutions'
worsening continuation rates[374]
indicated that there was scope for some further improvements in
retention.
METHODOLOGIES
Widening participation
48. To assess progress in increasing participation of
under-represented groups we undertook a detailed analysis of data
held by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. To determine the
effectiveness of the widening participation initiatives and explore
what barriers remain to participation, we carried out surveys
of 2,900 unsuccessful applicants for higher education places and
of 1,000 teachers in primary and secondary schools, visited seven
institutions and met with representatives of key organisations.
Retention in higher education
49. This report was based upon:
— analyses of the Higher Education Statistics Agency's
student data and quantitative analyses of higher education performance
indicators;
— case studies of selected higher education institutions
including a telephone survey of early leavers;
— review of academic and other research;
— international comparison research; and
— consultation with stakeholder groups, reference to
experts and discussions with staff of the Department of Innovation,
Universities and Skills and the Higher Education Funding Council
for England.
March 2009
359
National Audit Office (2008) Widening participation in higher
education, Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General,
HC 725, Session 2007-08 Back
360
National Audit Office (2007) Staying the course: the retention
of students in higher education, Report by the Comptroller and
Auditor General, HC 616, Session 2006-07 Back
361
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills , unpublished
analysis, and PricewaterhouseCoopers/Universities UK (2007) Research
Report: The economic benefits of a degree, Universities UK: London Back
362
"Full-time Young Participation by Socio-Economic Class"
(FYPSEC) Back
363
National Audit Office analysis of UCAS 2006 data, presented in
Figure 7 of Widening Participation in Higher Education Back
364
A benchmark is the institution's expected performance taking into
account the average of institutions of similar type, the profile
of entry qualification of its students, the subjects they studied,
and their age. For each institution a range around the benchmark
is calculated, which accounts for the size of the institution
and the random variation in performance that is expected. If an
institution's performance is within this range then its performance
is similar to that expected and not significantly different to
its benchmark. Annual performance of institutions is presented
in relation to each institution's benchmark. Back
365
The Higher Education Statistics Agency is the official agency
for the collection, analysis and dissemination of data about higher
education. It is a company limited by guarantee and its members
are the two representative bodies for higher education institutions
in the United Kingdom-Universities UK and GuildHE. Back
366
http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/content/category/2/32/141/,
Table series T1 and T2 Back
367
Tight, M (2007), The (re)location of higher education in England
(revisited), Higher Education Quarterly, Vol 61, No 3; Higher
Education Funding Council for England (2008), Exploratory analysis
of geographical cold-spots of higher education provision and participation Back
368
Lifelong Learning Networks are area, regional and national collaborations
of universities and colleges which create opportunities for vocational
learners. They aim to enhance the coherence, clarity and certainty
of vocational progression into and through higher education, taking
into account local economic context and regional skill priorities.
Further detail is presented on page 27 of Widening Participation
in Higher Education. Back
369
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2006),
Education at a Glance 2006, OECD: Paris (Table A3.2 "Survival
rates in tertiary education"). In 2004, Japan, Ireland, Korea
and Greece reported higher "survival rates" than the
United Kingdom. See Figure 10 in Staying the Course: The retention
of students in higher education. Back
370
Based on Levene's Equality of Variance test, which is a reliable
statistical test that compares variances in different sample groups. Back
371
The Higher Education Statistics Agency does this on behalf of
the Performance Indicators Steering Group, which represents the
sector, including the Department and the Funding Council, and
is responsible for overseeing the development of performance indicators. Back
372
Our report Staying the course: the retention of students in higher
education contains specific examples from a range of universities
as Figures 20-24 on pages 29-32. Back
373
While the Allowances make it easier for disabled students to study,
it may also be the case that successful applicants for the Allowances
display greater persistence generally and so are more likely also
to succeed in their studies Back
374
We examined how the continuation rate of each institution had
changed between 2001-02 and 2004-05. Of the 117 institutions with
data for both years the continuation rate of 30 institutions (26%)
decreased by at least one percentage point. Back
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