Students missing out on bursaries

Universities spent �27m on advice and trying to reach more students

University students from low-income families in England are failing to claim bursaries and scholarships, according to an official report.

The Office for Fair Access says one in 10 students are missing out on money they are entitled to.

But take-up was significantly higher than in the previous year, when one in five eligible students missed out.

On 2007-08 universities paid £219m in in bursaries and scholarships to attract a wider range of students.

The figures are the second monitoring report from the Office for Fair Access (Offa), which looks at how universities are supporting poorer students, following the rise in tuition fees in 2006.

The sector has worked hard to raise take-up and changes to the student finance application form should improve the situation still further Sir Martin Harris Director of Fair Access

It found that a total of £192m was provided in bursaries and scholarships last year.

More than 70% of this money went to the very lowest income group, helping almost 133,000 students who coming rom households earning less than £17,910 a year.

Different levels

The report follows concern that the complex system of university finance has deterred students from claiming their full entitlements.

Students receiving full maintenance grants can claim bursaries ranging in value from £310 to £3,150, according to a recent report by the Commons public accounts committee.

But the committee noted that while information on financial assistance was available from a range of sources, it was not easily accessible or understood.

The MPs recommended that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (Dius) develop a single source of information to enable potential students to easily identify the bursaries and grants for which they may be eligible.

But Offa says despite the difficulties the take-up rate among poorer students has risen from an estimated 80% to around 90%.

National system

The National Union of Students has argued the individual arrangements of universities need to be replaced by a national system.

Financial support should be based on how much a student needs it, not where they happen to be studying Wes Streeting National Union of Students

It has highlighted the differences between bursaries paid by different types of university - with the older Russell Group institutions paying on average £1,340, while newer universities in the Million+ group averaged £779.

But the NUS says that two thirds of Russell Group universities are paying a lower proportion of their fee income in bursaries than last year.

"Financial support should be based on how much a student needs it, not where they happen to be studying," said NUS president, Wes Streeting.

As part of the deal to increase tuition fees to a maximum of £3,000 per year (index linked), universities have to offer Offa-approved bursary schemes.

Offa director Sir Martin Harris said the report was encouraging and showed that universities were serious about making sure that students are not deterred from higher education on financial grounds.

He added: "For our part, we have commissioned research into how institutions can best raise awareness of bursaries and will be publishing guidance on this in May 2009."

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