Student Finance in Scotland

Transcription

1 SLC HE Student Support Seminar Student Finance in Scotland Alan Scott /Paul Curtis Student Awards Agency for Scotland SG Higher Education Learner Support FUNDING AVAILABLE IN SESSION

2 Content Rates Changes for SAAS operational update reviews o Postgraduate funding o Disabled Students Allowance o Allied Health Professions Referendum September 2014

3 Financial support for dependent students Family income Bursary Loan Total 0-16,999 1,750 5,750 7,500 17,000-23,999 1,000 5,750 6,750 24,000-33, ,750 6,250 34,000 and above 0 4,750 4,750

4 Financial support for independent students Family income Bursary Loan Total 0-16, ,750 7,500 17,000-23, ,750 6,750 24,000-33, ,250 6,250 34,000 and above 0 4,750 4,750

5 Postgraduate Living cost loans Announcement late 2013 Introduction of living cost student loan up to 4500 Non income-assessed Tuition fee loan remains 3400 No change to course list from RUK places No living cost grants other than DSA

6 EU Portability Maastricht/ Groningen Malmo Southern Denmark Rhein-Waal

7 EU Portability Pilot project 500 places 5 universities Same living cost support Additional help with travel and medical insurance No tuition fees from SAAS

8 Nursing Payments Payments now issued on 1 st of month Year 1 exception Late applications backdated Approximately 600 Nursing students in Scotland from RUK Comms

9 Work with Sport Scotland Elite Athlete Funding Concession Commonwealth Games 2014 Full-time support extended to students studying part-time in and Extended for Rio 2016 Olympics

10 13 were selected for Team Scotland Commonwealth Games athletes received full-time support while studying parttime and training. 8 4 hockey swimmers athletes 4 won medals 6 athletes studying at Edinburgh University 3 badminton players 4 athletes studying at Strathclyde University

11 Care leavers In February 2014, our Chief Executive, David Wallace, signed a pledge to listen to the needs of care leavers.

12 Care leavers We have been working with Who Cares? Scotland to raise awareness of care leavers and the support available. Made changes to the age eligibility criteria for care leavers Care leaver, Ashley, blogs about her experience of SAAS as a student Improved our guidance available for care leavers

13 SAAS Operational Changes Online award notice for students via online account Online message service for students Online award status more information to students on progress of applications

14 SAAS IT Development for Online services Student Portal A project to provide a self-service student portal that will allow students to make applications and mange their account through the duration of their studies. Objectives are to improve customer experience by :

15 SAAS IT Development for Guiding students through the application service; Making all student scheme type applications available online; Reducing the need to contact SAAS; Providing validation feedback at the point of applying: Providing the most effective and efficient channels for correspondence; Improving the overall time to make an award; Providing better status information to students through the lifecycle of the student journey.

16 SAAS IT Development for Student portal to improve SAAS processing by: Increasing the number of automated applications; Reducing the need for double handling; Reducing the number of incorrect or incomplete applications; Providing more effective means of communications with applicants.

17 Student Engagement We have been focusing on engaging with students to gather feedback and recommendations on our service. Already we have hosted 2 student forums with University and College student representatives.

18 Allied Health Professions Fees and Bursary from country of study Loan from home funding body Engagement with RUK Cross border arrangements Impact of student support changes in Scotland in Statistics

19 Allied Health Professions RUK AHP students studying in Scotland in Scottish AHP students studying in RUK in N.Ireland England Wales 2 2

20 Nursing Review Led by Scottish Government Health Directorate Student concerns about increased cost of living Review due to be completed this summer Objectives include taking account of other student funding packages Any changes no earlier than Stakeholders NUS, UCAS, NHS Education Scotland, SG, SAAS.

21 Postgraduate Eligible Scottish domiciled and EU Postgraduate students on designated postgraduate diploma courses are entitled to a non-means tested tuition fee loan of up to 3,400. From postgraduate students on eligible courses will, (in addition to the tuition fee loan) be able to apply for a non-means tested living cost loan of up to 4,500 a year.

22 Postgraduate In academic year the Scottish Funding Council introduced 850 fully funded Postgraduate places per year from until Students undertaking the MSc in Educational Psychology can access tuition and living cost loans for both years of their course.

23 Postgraduate In November 2014, a review of the barriers to Scottish domiciled students undertaking postgraduate study was announced. The group first met in February 2015 and a final report will be produced by summer 2015.

24 Part-time Fee Grant (PTFG) PTFG supports low income learners, whose individual income is less than 25k p/a by providing a non-repayable grant for tuition fee costs. Students must complete between SCQF credits per year (or 120 at non-campus based universities). Qualifications included in the PTFG scheme include part-time Higher Education course, (including the PGDE), SVQ3 and SVQ4, Professional Development Award (PDA) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at levels 7-10 of the Scottish Qualifications Framework (SCQF)

25 Part-time Fee Grant (PTFG) The level of grant available is linked to the number of credits studied and is calculated pro-rata based on the maximum fee level set for full time courses (i.e. 1,820 for 120 credits). Early 2015 review of operation of PTFG Concerns raised by Open University

26 Widening access The Government s ambition is that every child whatever their background should have not just a better chance but an equal chance of attending university. The Programme for Government 2014/15 announced: the introduction of a target for participation in higher education; setting up a Commission on Widening Access to advise on meaningful targets, milestones and activities to accelerate progress; and providing 2 million in 2015/16 to double the funding available for local widening access initiatives through the Scottish Funding Council s Impact for Access Fund. This new funding is open to all higher education institutions and collaboration and multi-agency approaches will be encouraged. The Commission is due to meet for the first time in April 2015 and will run for one year.

27 Contact us SAAS Tel: HELS Scottish Government Tel: