Introducing access agreements
What is an access agreement?
An access agreement must set out: your proposed tuition fee limits; the additional access and, where appropriate, retention measures you intend to put in place; the estimated cost of these measures; your targets and milestones; and how you are going to inform students of the financial support you are offering.
Who has to have an access agreement?
From 2012-13, you need to have an OFFA-approved access agreement if you:
- provide undergraduate full-time higher education courses and those postgraduate courses, such as PGCEs, that are subject to regulated fees and
- are directly funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) or the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) and
- wish to charge above the basic fee of £6,000 for home/EU undergraduates.
In future, subject to Parliamentary approval, access agreements will also cover part-time students studying at least 25 per cent of a full-time course (this will not be before autumn 2011). See our fee and bursary table for current fee levels and state support thresholds.
The minimum bursary requirement
If you are charging higher tuition fees near to or at the maximum level, you must currently give a minimum bursary to students on the full Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant. This minimum bursary requirement also applies to any student who repeats a year – provided they are receiving the full Maintenance Grant. From 2012-13, following the increase in state maintenance grants, there will be no minimum bursary requirement for new students.
- 2011-12 – the minimum bursary requirement for students receiving the full Maintenance Grant is 10 per cent of the maximum fee. So, if you’re charging the maximum fee of £3,375, the minimum bursary requirement will be £338.
- 2012-13 – the minimum bursary requirement ends for new students. Students who started their course in 2011-12 or before must continue to receive a bursary.
How much do you need to spend under your access agreement?
For 2012-13 access agreements, our new guidance sets out broad guidelines on expenditure levels. It also makes clear that we will expect significantly more from institutions with low proportions of students from under-represented groups. If we have any concerns about the level of investment proposed in your draft access agreement, we will discuss this with you before we enter the formal decision making procedure.
How long do access agreements last?
Access agreements can currently cover a period of up to five years. Access agreements for 2012-13 and future years will be subject to annual review.