The student number control for Toby West-Taylor Head of Funding, HEFCE

Student numbers – what’s happening?

Student number control history (1) October 2008: Government announced reductions to student support and asked us to introduce contingency measures to reduce the risk of over-recruitment November 2008: We issued Circular letter 32/2008, asking institutions not to increase FT UG and PGCE entrants beyond the numbers recruited in plus any ASNs awarded January 2009: Our grant letter from DIUS warns that our grant might be reduced if institutions over-recruit leading to excess student support costs

Student number control history (2) March 2009: Our grant letter to institutions warns institutions that if they, or the sector as a whole, over- recruits we may: –Reduce their grant in and/or –Introduce a new student number control for , recruitment above which could lead to reductions in grant Repeated in July funding agreements December 2009: Our grant letter from BIS asks us to reduce grant for institutions that have over-recruited at a rate of £3,700 per excess student

Student number control: why? The control exists to reduce the risk that our grant might be reduced by BIS – This in turn would be so that BIS can meet excess student support costs We are adjusting grant so that we recover from institutions the excess costs that they have incurred for the public purse – Not based on the fee income that institutions might retain

The student number control for Differences to restriction: –Only HEFCE-fundable/employer co-funded Virement from non-fundable categories no longer possible –Not the population as it has been counted in HESES/HEIFES Non-standard years counted differently Non-completions prior to HESES/HEIFES census date included –Not necessarily “new entrants” Students transferring from non-fundable to fundable FT UG Students transferring from PT to FT study Students who have taken more than 2 years out

Monitoring the student number control: the new HESES Table 6 Full-time years of instance Years of instance starting up to 1 December 2010 Forecast of years of instance starting after 1 December 2010 and before 1 August 2011 Total Students that withdraw on or before 1 December 2010 Students who have not withdrawn by 1 December 2010 HEFCE- fundable UG PGCE Employer co-funded UG PGCE Total

The content of Table 6 (1) Years of instance meeting the following criteria count towards the student number control that we have set for , and should be included in Table 6: EITHER They are for HEFCE-fundable or employer co-funded FT UG students active in the academic year and The students have not been HEFCE-fundable or employer co-funded or ‘model 2’ LLN FT UG students in either of the preceding two academic years as students of the same institution.

The content of Table 6 (2) OR They are for HEFCE-fundable or employer co- funded FT students aiming for a PGCE commencing an instance in the academic year In either case, for a year of instance to be counted the student must have not withdrawn from their instance within two weeks of starting: that is, they have undertaken sufficient activity to be required to be included in the HESA return

The content of Table 6 (3) Table 6 counts years of instance differently to Tables 1a to 5. The two cases where treatment differs between Table 6 and the other tables are: – for students on non-standard years of instance – for some students who withdraw from their year of instance.

Examples – included in Table 6 or not? (1) 1. A HEFCE-fundable student starts a full-time degree in September 2010 having never studied at the institution before. 2. A HEFCE-fundable student starts a full-time degree in January 2011 (with non-standard years of instance) having never studied at the institution before. 3. As in 2, but the student withdraws in March A HEFCE-fundable student starts a full-time degree in January 2010 (with non-standard years of instance) having never studied at the institution before.

5. A HEFCE-fundable student starts a part-time degree in September 2008 and moves to full-time study in September A HEFCE-fundable student studied full-time for a FD at an FEC between September 2008 and July 2010, and then tops up to a bachelors degree at an HEI in The FD was delivered through a franchise arrangement with the same HEI. 7. As in 6, but the FD was not delivered through a franchise arrangement but funded directly at the FEC. Examples – included in Table 6 or not? (2)

8. A student studies full-time for an NHS-funded diploma in nursing between September 2008 and July 2010 and then starts a HEFCE-funded full-time top-up to a nursing degree at the same institution in September A student who already holds a degree (completed some years ago) studies full-time for a (non-ELQ exempt) HNC in In September 2010 they continue their studies full- time at the institution, aiming to complete a foundation degree in the same subject during the year. 10. A student starts a full-time degree in September 2010 having never studied at the institution before. However, from January 2011 they decide to continue their studies part-time only. Examples – included in Table 6 or not? (3)

How we calculated the baseline from HESA data (1) Undergraduate students Link , and HESA data by UKPRN and HUSID If meet following conditions for (and not for and ) then student counts in baseline: Undergraduate (uses FUNDLEV and COURSEAIM) Full-time or sandwich year-out (uses our derived field HESMODE) Active during academic year (uses COMDATE, ENDDATE, MODE, EXCHANGE) HEFCE-fundable, or non-fundable and either co-funded employer engagement or model 2 LLN (uses our derived field HESTYPE, or institution specific algorithms)

How we calculated the baseline from HESA data (2) PGCE students If meet following conditions for then student counts in baseline: PGCE (uses COURSEAIM) HEFCE-fundable, or non-fundable and either co-funded employer engagement or model 2 LLN (uses our derived field HESTYPE, or institution specific algorithms) Active during year (uses COMDATE, ENDDATE, MODE, EXCHANGE) Full-time or sandwich year-out (uses our derived field HESMODE) Started their instance in (uses COMDATE)

The student number control from We expect to set a limit again for and that the one specified for will act as the baseline for subsequent years. Adjustments will then be made for: – Allocations of ASNs – Removal of UMF places – Transfers between institutions (both those implemented for and for ) – Other miscellaneous adjustments for individual institutions. – If necessary, any other overall changes in FT UG and PGCE recruitment that may be required of the sector

Implications for those that over- recruited in Increased cohort from will take some time to work through the system, so may continue to lead to excess student support costs Institutions that over-recruited in may therefore face a further grant reduction unless they offset in the over-recruitment in But cutting intakes may cause problems with viable course sizes and lead to under-recruitment in later years Circular letter 11/2010 provides advice on funding implications for future years of over-recruitment in It is for institutions to decide their recruitment strategy Any funding adjustments will be subject to appeal

Further information Toby West-Taylor’s letter to institutions of 24 February 2010 for details of the limit Tony Ryan’s to our HESES contacts of 3 March 2010 for technical guidance on how HESA data was used Circular letter 10/2010 on changes to HESES10 Circular letter 11/2010 on implications for of over-recruitment in General queries – Queries relating to underlying HESA data -