News

New OFFA GuidancePosted: 18/01/2013

Commenting on the OFFA guidance for higher education institutions on how to produce an access agreement for 2014-15, Peter Gray, Chairman and CEO of JS Group welcomed its emphasis on evaluating the expenditure by HEIs on access measures.

"Our work in the sector shows that colleagues find it very difficult to show cause and effect between their WP expenditure and the composition of their student body. Many of them are now turning towards our Aspire bursary management system to measure the impact of the money being invested in NSP and other means tested bursaries. Aspire creates a direct relationship between how students use their bursaries and their outcomes.  Working with universities, Aspire can provide meaningful statistics linked to outcomes - be they academic, attendance, or engagement with university facilities. Current users of Aspire value the detailed analytics and intelligence that they receive as part of the Aspire service."

Aspire is currently used by 9 universities in the UK and 3 overseas.

Recent research reports  including the AMOSSHE Students First report and Alan Milburn’s report on social mobility have shown that targeting bursaries has had a positive effect in retention strategies and academic outcomes.

To find out more about Aspire please contact David Fox on 07834 140724 or david.fox@aspire-he.co.uk