Writing/revising your access agreement
Writing your access agreement
Each year, we publish detailed guidance on writing your access agreement. The latest guidance is always available on our guidance and useful information page. For the 2017-18 access agreement process you should refer to our guidance published in February 2016. Everyone submitting an access agreement for 2017-18 should read our strategic access agreement guidance. This guidance explains our key priorities for this year’s access agreements, and sets out what’s new. We have also produced a step-by-step guide to producing an access agreement. This is designed to support those who are new to writing access agreements, or as a reference for those wishing to find further information on particular areas of their access agreement. The deadline for submitting access agreements for 2017-18 is noon on Wednesday 27 April. Should you have any queries about drawing up your access agreement, please do contact us.
You may also find the following useful:
- general guidance and information to help you keep your access agreement up to date and in line with best practice
- archive of guidance notes issued to universities and colleges.
How much do you need to spend under your access agreement?
OFFA’s primary concern is that access agreements have impact and result in positive outcomes. But our guidance sets out broad guidelines on expenditure levels that we would expect to see in access agreements. It 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 them with you before we enter the formal decision-making process.
For some continuing students, you are required to provide a specific level of financial support under the minimum bursary scheme.
The approval process
We consider access agreements against the requirements set out in our guidance. In particular, we look at whether your plans for access measures are satisfactory, the amounts you are investing are appropriate, and your targets and milestones suitably challenging.
Revising your access agreement or making retrospective changes
Access agreements are now approved on an annual basis and we would not normally expect you to make in-year changes once the application cycle is under way.
There are other exceptional circumstances in which it may be possible to make some changes to an approved agreement, for example where you need to clarify your access agreement or where you have spotted an error. In these circumstances, please contact us straight away to discuss.