New National Outreach Programme announced

The HEFCE funding letter to higher education institutions makes this announcement – We will update when we find out more:

“We will introduce a new stream of funding for a geographically-focused, national outreach programme that will target those places where students have the educational attainment or potential to succeed in higher education but where there is evidence that entry rates are below expectations. The funding for this will be £30 million for 2016-17, rising to £60 million from 2017‑18. We will invite bids later in March from local consortia to conduct intensive outreach in these areas in order to address these gaps. This approach is designed to enable rapid progress towards meeting the Prime Minister’s goal of doubling the proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering higher education by 2020 compared with 2009, and increasing the number of students from black and minority ethnic communities studying in higher education by 20 per cent by 2020. Formula-driven institutional grants for widening access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds will also continue in 2016-17, but with an overall budget of £54 million (reduced from £68 million).”