Higher Education Access and Participation Plan 2019-20 · learning has grown from 50% to 72% over...

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Inspiring people and changing lives through education and training

2019-20

Higher Education Access and Participation Plan

2019-20

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Contents Overview of the Access and Participation Plan .............................................................................................................................. 3

Information about the college ....................................................................................................................................................... 4

Characteristics of the Barrow-in-Furness area ............................................................................................................................... 5

Cumbria Collaborative Outreach Programme – Hello Future ........................................................................................................ 6

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Higher Education Review .......................................................................................................... 7

Strategic Aims ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7

HE Strategy and Key Measures ...................................................................................................................................................... 8

Fee Income, Fees and Indication of spend ................................................................................................................................... 10

Fees .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

Indication of Spend ...................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Access, student support, student success and progression ......................................................................................................... 12

Recruitment Activity..................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Success Activity ............................................................................................................................................................................ 16

Progress Activity ........................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Monitoring and Evaluation Arrangements ................................................................................................................................... 17

Provision of information to prospective students ....................................................................................................................... 18

Consulting with students.............................................................................................................................................................. 18

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Overview of the Access and Participation Plan

Furness College is dedicated to providing high quality HE provision to all. This Access and Participation Plan relates to the setting of fees for UK and EU students entering Higher Education courses at Furness College for 2019/20 and outlines the Colleges commitment to widening participation (WP) by providing equal opportunities for all. The College is working towards the aims of the Office for Students via the Regulatory Framework for Higher Education and is empowered through the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 and the access and participation regulations. The Colleges vision “Inspiring people and changing lives through education and training” informs the Access and Participation Plan. This relies on seamless progression opportunities being available to students who enter or return to education at any level to improve their life skills and employability prospects. The College’s Senior Management Team is fully committed to delivering and developing a responsive Higher Education (HE) portfolio to meet the needs of students and employers.

The College is in partnership with three Universities: The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), the

University of Cumbria and Lancaster University. The College offers both franchised and validated models

at undergraduate entry, HNC’s, Foundation Degree, Honours Degree Top Up level along with

Certificate in Education and Post Graduate Certificates in Education (PGCE) courses. The

College has an established relationship with these Universities and works closely with its partners

on all aspects of the widening participation agenda.

The College is committed to continuing to deliver HE and to enhance opportunities for the

development of higher-level skills within the Furness and Cumbria region. The College’s Higher

Education Strategy takes into account national polices relating to Widening Participation and

articulates the College’s plans for stimulating demand in HE.

The College is starting to establish a record of success in delivery of its strategy for widening access

to higher education. This is mainly achieved through a collective responsibility within the College for

the implementation of a range of initiatives that include both internal and external progression

events to raise awareness of the HE offer at the College and the opportunities to stay local to

study for a degree. The 2018/19 Access Statement consolidates and builds on this with further

improvements, whilst at the same time investing in access in, attendance, retention, attainment and

moving on to either employment or further study.

The College recognises that small group sizes, study support, along with identified weekly

tutorial sessions are the key elements of student success at Furness College. It is continuing to

provide significant investment in the development of its staff to ensure support is a priority as

well as ensuring business planning allows for small group sizes and the growing support

mechanisms such as tutorial provision and a dedicated learning mentor for HE students. There is

a dedicated resource area for HE provision which contains 5 teaching classrooms, 2 tutorial rooms,

a resource area with core text books and a number of open access computers. This is much valued

by the HE students as an area to work individually and as groups.

A key strand of the strategy for improving student retention is to define clear responsibilities and

indicators of success so that we are able to ensure performance is closely monitored by the Quality

Improvement Group and challenged by the College’s Senior Leadership Team through regular

meetings. This close monitoring strategy has positively impacted on reported retention and attainment

rates.

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The College has an excellent reputation for widening access to higher education. This document outlines the College’s approach to access and participation in higher education and how the College has performed against the following widening access and participation priorities:

1. Maintain reach and impact on under-represented groups a. Students in POLAR 3 quintiles 1 and 2 (low participation due to socioeconomic

status or household income) b. Mature students c. Female students into Engineering d. Disabled students e. Care leavers

2. Increase the proportion of school leavers progressing to HE (low participation and young participation) as a direct result of the Cumbria Collaborative Outreach Programme (CCOP)

3. Ensure resources are aligned to targeted interventions 4. Maintain the effective utilisation of the HE Bursary to support student success

Information about the college

Furness College is an incorporated general FE college situated in the industrial and relatively isolated town of Barrow-in-Furness. In August 2016 the local sixth form college was merged with Furness College and as a result the College is now the largest provider of education and training in Cumbria. The college offers a wide range of vocational and academic programmes ranging from level 1 through to level 6. Within its catchment area there are two secondary schools with sixth forms and a private school with a sixth form. There are also four 11-16 schools and several private providers of work-based learning. The focus of the college is to provide high quality vocational education and training for the people and industries of the Furness Peninsula. Its vision is:

“Inspiring people and changing lives through education and training.” A large amount of college provision falls within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). STEM accounts for 79% of provision in Higher Education. Similarly, STEM in workplace learning has grown from 50% to 72% over the last three years whilst classroom learning has grown from 67% to 81%. In partnership with Cumbria LEP and HEFCE catalyst fund, the College has invested in a new state-of-the-art £4m Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre on the Channelside site. The Centre became operational in September 2016. Higher Education at the College represents 14% of its annual income and is proportionally one of the highest deliverers of HE among further education colleges. The College has well-established relationships with Lancaster University, the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Cumbria. All engineering HE programmes are accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and/or the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (I MechE)

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Characteristics of the Barrow-in-Furness area

Barrow ranks as fourth largest of the Cumbria’s six districts, although it is the most densely populated and the most deprived area in Cumbria. Barrow is also the 29th most deprived local authority of 326 in England. Barrow district is in the most deprived 10% of districts in England. Deprivation problems relate, in descending order, to health, employment, income, child poverty and education. Residents often face multiple disadvantages, have specific learning needs and are particularly susceptible to unemployment, Skills for Life deficiencies and social exclusion. Furness College is situated in one of the three wards. The town has also suffered from outward-migration of highly skilled labour and poor graduate retention rates. Around 49% of residents are male, and the number of ethnic minority residents is 2.9%, which has shown a slight increase in recent years as a result of larger numbers of Eastern Europeans residing in the area. The population of the town, although predicted to be stable at around 67,515 will age over the coming years, which may produce specific learning and skills needs. The stable population implies that the only way to increase the local skills profile is to increase participation rates. School leaver profiles over the next five years show a dip before beginning to rise again in 2020/21. ‘Progress 8’ scores are typically lower than the national rate for five of the seven local secondary schools.

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Table 1 illustrates the levels of academic attainment in Barrow-in-Furness compared to the North West and Great Britain. The proportion of residents qualified at level 1 are above both the regional and national rates, however this is not the case at levels 2, 3 and 4. Level 4 and above is particularly low at 25.5% when compared to the national average of 38.6%. Table 1 Source: NOMIS (May 2018)

Cumbria Collaborative Outreach Programme – Hello Future

The map adjacent shows how likely young people are to participate in HE according to where they live in and around the Furness Area. POLAR classifies local areas or ‘wards’ into five groups, based on the proportion of 18 year olds who enter HE aged 18 or 19 years old. The most recent classification of POLAR3 shows the combined participation rates of those aged 18 between 2005 and 2009, who entered Higher Education between 2005-06 and 2010-11 academic years. As can be seen from the POLAR3 map, the deprived wards of Central Barrow along with Walney demonstrate very low participation in Higher Education and therefore remain a key target for participation. These groups range from quintile 1 areas, with the lowest young participation (most disadvantaged), up to quintile 5 areas with the highest rates (most advantaged).

Furness College has successfully collaborated with the University of Cumbria and the University of

Central Lancashire as lead institutions in the recent Cumbria and Lancashire Collaborative Outreach

Programme, with a number of local and regional events to support widening participation and raising

aspirations. The full evaluation and impact is currently being submitted to HEFCE.

The College is also fully involved in the new HEFCE National Collaborative Outreach Programme

with the lead institution of the University of Cumbria in the Cumbria Collaborative Outreach

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Programme (CCOP). A number of schools in the Furness area have been identified as being in the

profile for this targeted project. CCOP will look to employ and deploy a sub-regional coordinator/

specific point of contact in Furness, Carlisle/ Eden and the West Coast of Cumbria. These posts will

provide an invaluable local contact point acting as a conduit for the development of strong

relationships with target schools and pupils and through local knowledge ad relationships will identify

the specific intervention needs for groups and individuals, which sit within the broader aims of

CCOP, and act as the commissioner for that activity.

The Cumbria consortium therefore will further develop an integrated and developmental collaborative programme of activity for years 9-13 where each target pupil will engage with a structured set of activities at regular points during their school career. Appropriate information, activities and opportunities will also be developed for parents and teachers to ensure the young people are receiving consistent messages about higher education from all their supportive adults. Provision will be in addition to existing activity provided by partners and a proportion of the funding will be used to develop the capacity within these partners to deliver the additional activity or to buy in additional capacity, capability or expertise when this is deemed appropriate.

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Higher Education Review

In February 2016, the College underwent a successful HER with four areas of good practice and one commendation: The QAA team formed the following judgements about the higher education provision at Furness College.

The maintenance of the academic standards of awards offered on behalf of degree-awarding bodies and other awarding organisations meets UK expectations.

The quality of student learning opportunities meets UK expectations.

The quality of the information about learning opportunities meets UK expectations.

The enhancement of student learning opportunities is commended. Good practice The QAA team identified the following features of good practice at Furness College.

The drawing together of data from a range of sources to inform comprehensive action plans, which are aligned to internal and external benchmarks (Expectation A3.3).

The effective relationship between the College and stakeholders that enables the College to make timely adjustments to the curriculum to maintain relevance and currency (Expectation A3.4).

The strategic approach that enables all stakeholders to work together to identify and seamlessly develop enhancement opportunities of mutual benefit (Enhancement).

The culture of enhancement that pervades all aspects of College provision (Enhancement). The full report is available on the QAA website at http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports

Strategic Aims

Furness College’s Strategic Aims are

1. Inspire – to aspire individuals through a rewarding, sage and inclusive environment. 2. Succeed – to raise individual aspirations, create opportunities and promote personal

development and progression by delivering high quality inclusive education and training. 3. Contribute – to contribute to the success of Furness. 4. Prosper – to be financially successfully through efficiency, cost-effectiveness and the delivery

of sustained income.

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports

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Embedding high quality and resilient financially efficient delivery Furness College continues to provide excellent opportunities to raise the aspirations of students through a curriculum offer closely aligned to the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership’s priorities. Using key employer expertise to tailor the curriculum design and working collaboratively across the Furness Area and the Cumbrian region the College ensures that students leave with employment ready wider skills that they will need to be successful throughout the rest of their lives. The strategic objectives of the College form the basis to provide a rationale and structure for the future development of HE within the college and draws on examples of best practice for the management and development of HE in FE. A specific HE Strategy provides a focussed direction for the coming academic years and is based around the college’s strategic objectives. An outstanding student experience is at the centre of what we do and we aim to provide a high quality, local, programme of Higher Education that is accessible to all. We see students being at the core of everything we do and we will proactively engage them in enhancing the student experience. The College’s HE targets are focused on growth in specialised and vocational areas, in order to provide an opportunity to develop a curriculum offer that better meets and supports the local skills requirements and the changing HE landscape. Considerations such as the relaxation of student number controls, growth of STEM, and the WP agenda all have a major impact on the growth potential of HE within the college. The college focus will be on areas of strength within the college and to be able to respond to the needs of local employers, businesses and learners. The College will continue to develop a high quality coherent range of Higher Education provision which builds on the College’s vocational strengths at level 3 to support progression from level 3. Progression routes from level 4 to level 6 will be further developed where sufficient demand and resources are fully explored and internally agreed. Higher level apprenticeships will be developed where employer demand is clearly identified.

HE Strategy and Key Measures

1: Inspire - To inspire individuals through a rewarding, safe and inclusive environment

2: Succeed - To raise individual aspirations, create opportunities and promote personal development and progression by delivering high-quality inclusive education and training

3: Contribute - To contribute to the economic development and success of Furness through close working partnerships with employers and other key stakeholders

4: Prosper - To be financially successful through efficiency, cost-effectiveness and the delivery of sustained income

NSS, MEQ, DLHE, HE Student Forum. Student Liaison Meetings, Employer-based surveys and meetings are acted upon to bring about continuous improvement.

High quality LTA. Lessons observations are judged good or better (87%). Student surveys and meetings show that students are satisfied with their teaching (MEQ 92%). A review of the Observation system to be implemented to take into consideration the HEA UKPSF. Development of the CPD and PPD process and to support research and scholarly activity at HE level.

HE Curriculum developed and mapped to the LEP, FEDF and Catalyst Fund priorities. Potential courses, HEFCE, non-prescribed full cost and SFA HE are identified via curriculum planning processes and reported to PST and Governors.

HE course fees, course approvals and class sizes are managed to support good financial health.

The Higher Education curriculum offer meets key priorities of the LEP and

Improving student outcomes through setting annual stretching targets.

Employers’ needs are met with development of programmes (revalidations

Innovation and enterprise are fostered to grow new areas of development.

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specifically the HEFCE Catalyst Fund growth in Engineering provision.

or new programme approvals) with specific employer contributions identified and evidenced.

Further develop the diverse and inclusive culture by contributing and participating in the Cumbria Collaborative Outreach Programme to support activities with underrepresented groups. Analysis and reporting to support WP is carried out annually.

Rigorous self-assessment through Annual reporting mechanisms and review processes which support the annual Quality Enhancement Action Plan for HE.

STEM curriculum development grows in line with the catalyst fund and other opportunities.

Review opportunities to work collaboratively with other high quality providers

Safe-guarding activities is fully included in the induction, tutorial sessions, programme delivery and specific College events (eg, Safer Internet Day, British Values)

High expectations of students through regular target setting and progress monitoring via module delivery and the tutorial provision.

Higher Level apprenticeships with employers are developed to meet local and regional priorities.

Successful implementation and utilisation of the Advanced Manufacturing Centre.

Employability skills are further developed with personal development being strengthened (as indicated on the NSS)

Comprehensive CIAG is further developed to take into consideration the CMA requirements and careers support internally and via partner Universities services. Links to professional bodies are strengthened (eg IET) and embedded in the delivery of the programmes. Student satisfaction in this area via the NSS shows continuous improvement (currently 80%).

Work with at least 4 key employers to co-design programmes to address current and anticipated skills gap in specialist engineering fields. This will increase to 8 key employers by the end of the 10 year project

Effective reporting to the Governing Body.

Achievements are celebrated via the HE Celebration Awards evening and student and staff nominations for local, regional and national recognition

Maintain and grow the curriculum offer with BAE Systems, in particular in Engineering, Business and Project Management.

Continue to develop and recruit staff with appropriate skills. Specific HE induction, cpd and briefing events are planned and evaluated annually.

Work with employers to develop work placements required for particular programmes or develop with employers suitable work-based projects to strengthen the employability skills of the students.

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Fee Income, Fees and Indication of spend

The College recognises that the higher education sector remains subject to continuous change. Therefore it will continue to review the fees in close consultation with OfS. The College will clearly advertise any changes where relevant and ensure students receive appropriate advice and guidance.

The College sees its role as vital in offering opportunities for the local community and its further education students to access Higher Education locally and at an affordable cost. With the continued development of the HE offer, the College will start to raise its fees beyond the level of £6,165 for full time courses.

The increased fees reflect the additional costs incurred of validated courses and partnerships, registration requirements of OfS, OIA, QAA, UCAS, JISC etc. Having successfully met the requirements for the Teaching Excellence Framework, the College intends to charge new home and EU students entering Higher Education programs at Furness College up to a maximum of £6,450 in the 2019/20 academic year for full time undergraduate programs. New part time students will be charged a pro-rata fee based on the number of credits studied in proportion to the full-time fee.

Fees

Proposed fees for 2019-20 students: Full-time Undergraduate Degree, Foundation Degree, HNC/D, Top-Up degrees £6450 Bursary Package – open to all HE students (full and part-time) with household incomes below £25,000 and for targeted groups such as care leavers. . £1000 fee adjustment and £1000 cash paid in 3 instalments as per SLC payments, and pro-rata for part-time students. (Terms and conditions apply as per application form) The College will communicate the changes in fees to all students who are applying and enrolling onto higher education courses for 2019/20.

Indication of Spend

In order to support the areas of access, student success and student progression it is estimated that investment from the higher fee income will be 100% allocated as follows in accordance with the overall fee income above the £6165 threshold:

Access and participation plan investment summary as a proportion of higher fee income (HFI) (%)

Academic year

2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23

Higher fee income (HFI) £35,055 £37,620 £39,900 £42,750

Access investment (as % HFI) 42.8

£15,00 42.5

£16,000 42.6

£17,000 42.1

£18,000

Success investment (as % HFI) 28.5

£10,000 29.2

£11,000 30.1

£12,000 28.1

£12,000

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Progression investment (as % HFI) 8.6

£3,000 8.0

£3,000 7.5

£3,000 9.4

£4,000

Investment in financial support (as % HFI) 21.4

£7,500 19.9

£7,500 18.8

£7,500 17.5

£7,500

Total investment (as % HFI) 101.3 99.7 99.0 97.1

All of the expenditure noted is accountable for the purpose of this Access and Participation Plan. As part of the annual review of its access agreement, the College will consider the impact of its access activities, and if appropriate adjust the individual activities and the level of financial commitment. In addition to the support package outlined above, there are a range of activities and support mechanisms planned to raise aspiration and to enable student success through the College’s commitment to Widening Participation (WP).

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Access, student support, student success and progression

Higher education provides knowledge, credentials, networks and skills for successful careers. It challenges assumptions, inspires creativity and nourishes personal growth for fulfilling lives. Higher education is both a gateway to a rewarding life, and rewarding in itself. It transforms lives, and not only for students who undertake residential study and go onto mobile careers; it is just as important for higher education to improve the lives of people who want to study at home, to live and work in the community where they grew up, and to upskill later in life. But Higher education can also entrench disadvantage for those who cannot access a course that is right for them or do not fulfil their potential during and beyond their studies. This is the case of far too many students and it is profoundly affected by factors such as socioeconomic status, household income, ethnicity and disability, which often intersect.

Chris Millard, Director for Access and Participation, Office for Students Widening Participation (WP) continues to be a priority area for the College, with a focus on raising

aspirations and achievement, increasing opportunities for all, fair access and inspiring all students to

develop their full potential. The College has a reputation for working successfully with non-traditional

students in terms of age, academic qualifications and family commitments, offering high quality

personal support.

As a Widening Participation (WP) institution, the College has a Single Equality Scheme and welcomes

applications from students with equivalent experience and life skills and has a strong commitment to

providing access to education for all. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group meets regularly

to review targets set, discuss the outcomes and set stretching and challenging targets for all areas of the

college. These targets are benchmarked again national benchmarks where appropriate. The College has an enduring reputation for working successfully with non-traditional students in

terms of age, academic qualifications and family commitments, offering high quality personal

support alongside skilfully differentiated provision. The prime aim at Furness College is to provide

a high quality university level experience for these students. Widening participation is a core activity for

the College to attract students who would not usually aspire to a university or who choose not to travel

for their education.

For 2019-20 the widening access and participation priorities have been identified as:

1. Maintain reach and impact on under-represented groups a. Students in POLAR 3 quintiles 1 and 2 (low participation due to socioeconomic

status or household income) b. Mature students (over the age of 21) c. Female students into Engineering d. Disabled students e. Care leavers

2. Increase the proportion of school leavers progressing to HE (low participation and low young participation) as a direct result of the Cumbria Collaborative Outreach Programme (CCOP)

3. Ensure resources are aligned to targeted interventions 4. Maintain the effective utilisation of the HE Bursary to support student success

The above priorities have been considered to address the underrepresented student groups in equality of opportunity in relation to access, success and progression. Due to the nature of the Furness Area the biggest challenge is in the low participation in HE for school leavers and working directly with CCOP a number of key strategies and resources have been identified and

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implemented to address this “cold spot” area. The following table shows the targeted groups and associated targets to meet these priorities. Currently the targets have overall data targets and work is currently ongoing to ensure that the sub- groups of young, mature, disabled, care leavers and by polar data is further detailed for implementation in 2019-20. This is managed by the Performance and Planning team and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group regularly meets to review and evaluate the impact on the measures and targets set. Further work will be done during 2018-19 to ensure that the reporting mechanisms from internal data, UCAS data and CCOP measures and impact are taken into account when further developing the measures and targets. As per the Regulatory Notice 1 of the Office for Students registration process, to be assessed fully for the Access and Participation Plan, the target groups should have specific historic data and clear targets set. This is not possible currently to be assessed specifically on these measures due to current data capabilities and current staffing limitations which has limited the historic data collection. However the College is committed to improving the College’s ability to do a full assessment on the performance targets for all targeted groups. ,

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Reference number

Stage of the lifecycle

Main target type

Target Group Description

Is this a collabor

ative target?

Baseline year

Baseline data

Yearly milestones (numeric where possible, however you may use text) Commentary on your

milestones/targets or textual description where numerical description is not appropriate 201

8-19 2019-

20 2020-

21 2021-22

2022-23

T16a_01 Access Socio-

economic

All – to be broken down by young, mature, care leavers, disabled, and polar data

Furness College Internal progression from FE/A levels to Furness College delivered HE including Higher and Degree Apprenticeships working alongside CCOP

Yes 2016-17 33% 35% 36% 37% 38% 39%

The College is working with Cumbria Collaborative Outreach Programme on this young participation target.

T16a_02 Access Socio-

economic


Furness College Internal Progression from FE/A levels progressing to at least level 4 HE, which includes Higher & Degree apprenticeships at all HE providers working alongside CCOP

Yes 2016-17 60% 65% 66% 67% 68% 69%


T16a_03 Access

Low participation neighbourhoods (LPN)

HESA T2b - Low participation neighbourhoods (POLAR3) (Young, part-time entrants)

Increase the number of young (under 21) into FC based HE

Yes 2015-16 36% 38% 39% 40% 41% 42%


T16a_04 Access Gender Other statistic - Gender

Increase the number of female students on Engineering HE programmes

No 2016-17 16% 17% 18% 18% 19% 19%

T16a_05 Access

Low participation neighbourhoods (LPN)

HESA T1c - Low participation neighbourhoods (POLAR3) (Young, full-time, other undergraduate entrants)

Increase the number of young participation rate into HE (at any HEI) into at least a level 4 qualification/higher apprenticeship

Yes 2016-17

Target wards range from 12.9% to 18.6%

13.3% to 19.1%

14% to 20.1%

14.9% to 21.8%


T16a_06 Success Attainment raising


Supported learners are retained

No 2016-17 88% 90% 91% 92% 93% 94%

Retention and achievement of an award via the bursary offer and targeted resources for skills support

T16a_07 Progression


To maintain the high levels of employment or further study for part-time and full-time students. To increase the highly skilled employment or further

No 2016-17 68.4% 69% 70% 71% 72% 72%

In relation to the DLHE data and TEF Year 3 metrics this currently the college has above benchmark data for part-time mode for employment or further study (99.6%) and for part-time mode for highly skilled employment or

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study for full-time students.

further study is at 88% which is 9.9% above benchmark.

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Recruitment Activity

In line with the College’s strategic commitment to work closely with schools, employers and the wider community events include:

Internal and external marketing campaign on the local HE offer, progression case studies, progression posters across the campus, focused social media campaigns

Advertising in all wards/areas through local radio, digital media, local newspapers

An internal progression sessions organised by student services and the careers lead to level 3 progressing students and their parents.

Open days and evenings including HE

HE Taster and information sessions throughout the year for internal and external students.

School liaison work with all primary schools and secondary schools, including year 10 taster days, parents evenings, option choices at schools

Community based careers fayre “Skillsfest” with local employers hosted by Cumbria Collaborative Outreach Programme in 2018.

Targeted campaigns delivered in partnership with CCOP.

Information, Advice and Guidance for applications to HE programmes, including support for students making UCAS applications and HE funding

Promoting progression to HE for the College’s Level 2 and Level 3 students through targeted careers sessions, an annual College based HE Fair, Taster event, visits to and talks by universities and support with UCAS applications

Working with employers in providing a coherent progression route for employees studying part-time, especially HNCs in engineering disciplines

Success Activity

Providing study skills support on Level 3 and HE programmes through online resources, tutorials, and specific sessions

Well established Access to HE programmes which provide opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds and levels of education to progress to university level study

Support for transition into HE via Induction processes, provision of information (website for HE, main College website, written information, social media) and summer activities leading up to induction and for progression to second year of programmes

Learning and development programmes which provides support to teachers on developing teaching and learning strategies that meet the needs of individual students

Advice through tutorials at HE level, with 1:1 sessions and group sessions

Study support with a dedicated HE learning mentor and specialised support with learning needs

Careers advice and guidance

An advanced tutorial system to monitor the student lifecycle in the form of attendance, punctuality, success, time-management and progression.

College retention and achievement data suggest that the improved tutorial support that has been put in place has improved retention to 96% for 16-17. Emphasis continues to be placed upon developing eLearning resources and opportunities in supporting further the traditional face-to-face methods in order to widen access to the curriculum for a diverse range of student groups.

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This approach involves established teams consisting of lecturers working with the dedicated Learning Resource Team to provide effective learning opportunities for all students. This is especially targeted at study support with dedicated resources available on the VLE to encourage independent learning amongst the students. There is a dedicated University Resource Hub where a culture of higher level study is encouraged and supported.

Progress Activity

The college has an excellent track record in supporting career development, enhancement and progression for students studying HE programmes. HE students’ mode of attendance is predominately part time. In terms of sectors, 77% of students study either Engineering or Business Analysis of the TEF core metrics for those part time students show 99.6% in employment or further study and a significant 88% of students in highly skilled employment or further study (both positive flags). The majority of part time students are within Engineering and Business and these students are typically employed and seeking to further their careers. In 2014/15 the DLHE showed that 95% of students on Electrical and Mechanical Engineering programmes are employed in a professional or managerial role (Electrical and Electronic Engineering chart displayed below). 38 students were surveyed in the last DLHE and therefore additional destination and progression data collected through internal college systems has been analysed and presented below. The survey results are based on 128 HE students completing the survey and 292 level 3 students (level 3 has been included to demonstrate the progression to HE, either remaining with the college or another provider). Progression activity includes:

The college will continue to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds throughout the whole life cycle in order to prepare them for further study or employment

Accessible and individually focused support via the tutorial provision to support progression and career opportunities.

Masterclasses with career progression aspects by local and regional experts and employers

Mentoring programme targeted at STEM students to enable further career development opportunities

Involvement and attendance at local sector groups, ie IET, Barrow Engineering Group, Project management conferences, Computing/Agile conferences.

Monitoring and Evaluation Arrangements

The Access and Participation Plan targets and milestones, outlined in the resource plan, will be

monitored and reported on in the Quality Improvement Group meetings in order to report on progress.

The principal responsibility for monitoring and evaluating widening participation actively lies with the

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group chaired by the Vice Principal: Curriculum and Quality,

as well as cross college staff. Student cohort data including equality and diversity impact measures

(EDIMs) are regularly reviewed in addition to the specific targets identified as part of this Access

Agreement throughout the quality assurance cycle.

Student data including equality and diversity impact measures are reviewed and analysed

continuously through these member groups and through a whole institutional approach quality

assurance cycle. There is also student representation on both member groups which allows for

immediate feedback on governance of the monitoring and evaluating of widening participation. For

18/19 to implement fully this Access and Participation Plan, emphasis will be appropriated to

analysis of activity throughout the student lifecycle reported through the two member groups

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detailed above. The College will therefore develop improvements in data analysis and evaluation

of the effectiveness of activities to support access, retention and progression. In 17/18 the College

undertook an evaluation of the impact of financial support on retention and success of students the

outcomes of which have been reported on (target T16a_06) and further development will continue

as detailed within the Financial Support section of this Access Agreement. This evaluation will

continue with reviews of financial support for students undertaken as appropriate.

The College Senior Leadership Team on behalf of the Governors approves fees and bursary

arrangements. The HE student governor, who attends regular meetings, represents the HE student

body. The College is committed to having realistic but stretching targets which are regularly

monitored and evaluation to ensure continuous improvement for targeted groups of students.

The HE strategy is derived from the College Strategic Plan and also informs the HE Marketing

strategy, which in turn informs business planning for the forthcoming year.

Provision of information to prospective students

The College website contains a range of information that relates to the College as a whole and specific information that is held under the University Education such as: up to date information on student fees and financial support. Information is updated on a regular basis in order to ensure information is accurate, timely and accessible. This also applies to UCAS listings. Furness College is committed to providing information for current students about learning

opportunities that we offer in a timely and accessible way in order to remain transparent. This

includes a section on the website regarding University Key Information, which houses many of the HE

policy and procedures, programme information, key academic dates, finance, bursary information and

the HE tuition fee contract. The College is committed to providing full financial information, including current fee details to students. Information can be found in the following ways:

HE Leaflet

College website

HE Open/Taster events

Relevant HE external and internal exhibitions and events

UCAS

Partner HEI websites

Consulting with students

We are embedding opportunities for students to be fully engaged with all aspects of the operation of

Higher Education at the College. It is imperative that the student voice is a key component in the

success of HE within the College in order to continually improve the student experience throughout

their period of study with us. We will continue to listen to our students to ensure that their views are considered in our planning for

the future of College HE. We will continue to develop partnerships with the students in order to further

enhance their experience. This is mainly undertaken via the nominated student reps and the HE

student governor who have regular student engagement activities where policies, new

developments such as TEF, OfS, the Access and Participation Plan are discussed and the impact

assessed, with improvements and targets reviewed.

Full-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree £6,450

Foundation degree £6,450

Foundation year / Year 0 *

HNC / HND £6,450

CertHE / DipHE *

Postgraduate ITT £6,450

Accelerated degree *

Sandwich year *

Erasmus and overseas study years *

Other *

Franchise full-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree *

Foundation degree *


HNC / HND *

CertHE / DipHE *

Postgraduate ITT *


Sandwich year *


Other *

Part-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree - £4,300

Foundation degree - £4,300


HNC / HND - £4,300

CertHE / DipHE *

Postgraduate ITT - £4,300


Sandwich year *


Other *

Full-time and part-time course fee levels for 2019-20 entrants.

Please enter inflationary statement in the free text box below.

Course fees in subsequent years may be increased for continuing students in line with an appropriate

inflationary measure (RPI - the Retail Price Index) and taking into account the cost to the college in delivery

this HE provison.

* course type not listed.

2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23

T16a_01 Access Socio-economic

Other statistic - Socio-economic

(please give details in the next

column)

Furness College Internal progresssion from

FE/A levels to Furness College delivered HE

including Higher and Degree Apprenticeships

working alongside CCOP

Yes 2016-17 33% 35% 36% 37% 38% 39%

T16a_02 Access Socio-economic

Other statistic - Socio-economic


column)

Furness College Internal Progression from

FE/A levels progressing to at least level 4 HE,

which includes Higher & Degree

apprenticeships at all HE providers working

aloingside CCOP

Yes 2016-17 60% 65% 66% 67% 68% 69%

T16a_03 AccessLow participation

neighbourhoods (LPN)

HESA T2b - Low participation

neighbourhoods (POLAR3)

(Young, part-time entrants)

Increase the number of young (under 21) into

FC based HEYes 2015-16 36% 38% 39% 40% 41% 42%

The College is working with Cumbria Collaborative

Outeach Programme on this young participation target.

T16a_04 Access GenderOther statistic - Gender (please

give details in the next column)

Increase the number of female students on

Engineering HE programmesNo 2016-17 16% 17% 18% 18% 19% 19%

T16a_05 AccessLow participation


HESA T1c - Low participation

neighbourhoods (POLAR3)

(Young, full-time, other

undergraduate entrants)

Increase the number of young participation

rate into HEYes 2016-17

Target

wards range

from 12.9%

to 18.6%

13.3% to

19.1%

14% to

20.1%

14.9% to

21.8%

The College is working with Cumbria Collaborative

Outeach Programme on this young participation target.

T16a_06 Success Attainment raising

Other statistic - Completion/Non

continuation (please give details

in the next column)

Supported learners are retained No 2016-17 88% 90% 91% 92% 93% 94%Retention and achievement of an award via the bursary

offer and tagetted resources for skills support

T16a_07 Progression

Other (please give

details in Description

column)

Other statistic - Progression to

employment or further study


column)

To maintain the high levels of employrment or

further study for part-time and full-time

students. To increase the highly skilled

employment or further study for full-time

students.

No 2016-17 68.40% 69% 70% 71% 72% 72%

In relation to the DLHE data and TEF Year 3 metrics

this currently the college has above benchmark data for

part-time mode for employment or further study (99.6%)

and for part-time mode for highly skilled employment or

further study is at 88% which is 9.9% above benchmark.

2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23

T16b_01 AccessLow participation


Outreach / WP activity (collaborative -

please give details in the next

column)

Work with the CCOP team and student

services team with the target groups of year

groups 9-13 in raising aspirations and widen

participation in HE

Yes 2016-17

12.9%-

18.6% in

selected

wards

20% of

target

group

actively

involved

22% of

target

group

actively

involved

25% of

target

group

actively

involved

T16b_02 AccessLow participation


Outreach / WP activity (other -

please give details in the next

column)

Work with local schools from primary,

secondary schools and the internal level 3

students in rasiing awarenss of progression

opportunities into HE

No 2016-17 6 events 10 events10

events10 events

Taster days, open days, progression events with

targetted schools and internal students.

Optional commentary on milestones.

This box is character-limited to 1000 characters; however, we are happy for you to upload additional ‘supporting information’ as a separate Word/pdf document.

Baseline

year

Baseline

data

Yearly milestones (numeric where possible, however

you may use text) Commentary on your milestones/targets or textual

description where numerical description is not

appropriate (500 characters maximum)

Table 8b - Other milestones and targets.

Reference

Number

Select stage of

the lifecycle

Main target type (drop-

down menu)Target type (drop-down menu)

Description

(500 characters maximum)

Is this a

collaborative

target?

Baseline

year (drop-

down

menu)

Baseline

data

Yearly milestones (numeric where possible, however

you may use text) Commentary on your milestones/targets or textual

description where numerical description is not

appropriate (500 characters maximum)

Reference

number

Stage of the

lifecycle (drop-

down menu)

Main target type (drop-

down menu)Target type (drop-down menu)

Description

(500 characters maximum)

Is this a

collaborative

target? (drop-

down menu)

Table 8a - Statistical targets and milestones relating to your applicants, entrants or student body

Higher Education Access and Participation Plan 2019-20 · learning has grown from 50% to 72% over...

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