Common use of Financial Support for Students Clause in Contracts

Financial Support for Students. 5.1 The University is committed to providing financial assistance to students from lower income backgrounds and target under-represented groups. Students entering the University in 2012, who are ordinarily resident in the UK and to whom the home rate of tuition fee applies (subsequently referred to as ‘home UK students’) will be eligible for scholarship support according to the criteria below. Eligible EU students who meet the relevant criteria will be eligible for the fee-waiver elements of scholarship support. 5.2 Although research undertaken by XXXX suggests that there is little evidence that cash bursaries have any impact on students’ choice of institution, our assessment of the applications for hardship support over the past five years suggests that cash bursaries play an important part in reducing the financial burdens and debt for individual students. Our proposals for financial support therefore provide a balance of fee- waivers and cash bursaries to provide optimum support. 5.3 It is impossible to know at this stage how potential applicants will react to the new fees environment, especially those from target WP groups. It will be essential to review our approach to financial support in the light of our experience from 2012-13 onwards. 5.4 Our plans in this section take account of the following: Financial support schemes should be straightforward to communicate and to understand. Financial incentives should be offered to individual students who can be identified at the point of application (rather than providing a scheme based on entitlement, which has no direct impact on application patterns and decisions). Our commitment to regional WP students, through the PARTNERS programme, and to students entering through the national Realising Opportunities programme, should be a high priority. In addition to Government support, our proposed overall package of support for our students is generous: financial support averaging £2,000 per annum for the duration of undergraduate study (for more than a third of our students by 2015-16); additional funding for hardship support; and a wide range of paid placements and work opportunities on campus. In addition, we are seeking to minimise additional costs to students and to support some of the costs of compulsory field trips. 5.5 Newcastle University will fulfil all of its commitments to returning students who entered prior to 2012. Full details are included in the Access Agreement for 2011 entry, available here: 2011 Access Agreement

Financial Support for Students. 5.1 The University is has committed to providing reduce spending on financial support by removing Promise, Xxxxxxx and Access Scholarships from 2017 entry. The savings from this will be ring-fenced to scope, identify and address issues relating to student progression and success, subject to the outcome of any changes in external circumstances. Ideally, this will result in more staff resource in Student Wellbeing, and more investment in study skills support. In future years, this will also be used to cover the anticipated reduction in Student Opportunity funding. 5.2 The University will continue to provide targeted financial assistance to students from lower low income backgrounds and target under-represented groups, despite a reduction in funding in this area. Students entering the University in 20122018, who are ordinarily resident in the UK UK/EU and to whom the home rate of tuition fee applies (subsequently referred to as ‘home UK students’) will be eligible for scholarship support according to the criteria below. Eligible EU students who meet We are anticipating this to be circa. £5.5m, allocated to 3,630 undergraduates in the relevant criteria will be eligible for the fee-waiver elements form of scholarship supportOpportunity Scholarships (approximately 28% of students). 5.2 5.3 Although recent OFFA research undertaken by XXXX suggests that there is little evidence indicates that cash bursaries have any impact on may not affect students’ choice of institution, our assessment of the applications for hardship support over the past five years suggests shows that cash bursaries play an important part role in reducing the financial burdens burden and debt for individual studentsindividuals. Our proposals for 83.3% of Newcastle University recipients said that receiving a scholarship impacted a lot or somewhat on their ability to remain on their course. It is also clear that students favour money that supports their living costs, rather than fee discounts: 92.4% of respondents stated that a cash bursary over any other kind of incentive (fee discount, accommodation discount, equipment or vouchers) would influence their decision the most to accept their offer from the University. As a result, our financial support therefore provide a balance for 2018 entry focuses on the provision of fee- waivers and cash bursaries to provide optimum support. 5.3 It is impossible to know at this stage how potential applicants will react to the new fees environment, especially those from target WP groups. It will be essential to review our approach to financial support in the light of our experience from 2012-13 onwardsand student choice. 5.4 Our plans in this section take account of the following: Financial support schemes should be straightforward to communicate and to understand. Financial incentives should be offered to individual students who can be identified at the point of application (rather than providing a scheme based on entitlement, which has no direct impact on application patterns and decisions). Our commitment to regional WP students, through the PARTNERS programme, and to students entering through the national Realising Opportunities programme, should be a high priority. In addition to Government support, our proposed overall package of support for our students is generous: student financial support averaging £2,000 per annum provides: targeted support for the duration of undergraduate study (for more than a third of our students by 2015-16)study; additional funding for hardship support; support and a wide an extended range of paid placements and work opportunities on campus. In addition, we are seeking to minimise We have also reviewed and minimised additional costs to students and to as well as providing financial support some of towards the costs of compulsory field trips, and participation bursaries for low income students wanting to get involved in student clubs and societies. 5.5 Newcastle University is committed to improving our evaluation and assessing the impact of financial support in terms of access and student success. This year we propose to further develop this strand of our evaluation plan using the online tools and technical workbook recommended by OFFA, and will be reporting on findings in future monitoring returns. 5.6 The University’s financial support schemes will continue to be reviewed annually and may be revised again to reflect changing circumstances, student need, numbers and/or government support arrangements. 5.7 Our Student Financial Support for 2018 entry Home fee undergraduate students is as follows: Up to £25,000 £2,000 per year Paid as a cash bursary to all eligible UK/EU domiciled entrants in 2018 £25,001- £35,000 £1,000 per year Paid as a cash bursary to all eligible UK/EU domiciled entrants in 2018 5.8 Students eligible for a Newcastle University Opportunity Scholarship will be identified on the basis of their UCAS application and household income information provided by the Student Loans Company. Students do not have to apply separately, but must submit financial information to Student Finance England (or equivalent in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) for assessment. 5.9 The Student Financial Support arrangements described in this Access Agreement do not apply to students studying on certain programmes (or parts of programmes) funded under contract by the Department of Health5. Specifically: • Students on the graduate entry Accelerated Medicine degree are not eligible for funding under the provisions of this Access Agreement. • Students funded by the NHS for any part of their course are not eligible for Newcastle University Opportunity Scholarships in the year(s) when they receive NHS funding. This includes the fifth year of the five-year programmes in Medicine and Dentistry. 5.10 Students undertaking a placement year where the fee payable is £1,000, £1,025, £1,350, £1,385, £1,800 or £1,800 (see Section 2.4 above) are not eligible for a Scholarship during the placement year. 5.11 As part of our ongoing commitments as an exemplary accredited Buttle UK institution (a commitment that continues now the Buttle UK award has ended), we will provide financial support to students who have experienced local authority care (and who meet relevant criteria) of £2,000 through scholarships. This would usually be through the Opportunity Scholarship (Section 5.7) which is payable in each year of their course (though these scholarships are not payable during placement years). If they don’t meet the criteria for this scheme Care Leavers would be given a Care Leaver Bursary of equal value. For 2018 entry, we propose to extend this support to estranged students and young carers. 5.12 All students will be informed of available scholarships at various stages in the UCAS application cycle: on application; on receipt of an offer and during the conversion stage. 5.13 From the information which we have about our current students, we estimate that ca. 28% of our new entrants in 2017 are likely to receive financial support (compared to the projected 32% under the old model). 5.14 In addition to our Access Agreement financial support schemes, we also offer a range of bursaries, scholarships and prizes to recognise outstanding achievement (on entry or during the course). Some of these are targeted at students from low income backgrounds or other under-represented groups. Further information is available on our Subject Scholarships website and on individual subject websites. We include payments to relevant students in our annual monitoring return to OFFA. 5.15 All of Newcastle University’s PGCE programmes fall into the subject categories where generous Teaching Agency (TA) Training Bursaries are available for well-qualified students. We support this drive for excellence and do not offer additional bursaries to students who are not eligible for TA support. PGCE students who suffer financial hardship whilst at Newcastle University can apply for relevant support. 5.16 From 2012, the University covers the fee for all individual undergraduate students requiring a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check as a requirement of their course. For PGCE students with household income up to £42,600, the DBS costs will be funded as part of our Access Agreement Faculty commitments. 5.17 Continuing students who entered Newcastle University prior to 2017 will continue to receive financial support as specified in the relevant Access Agreement for their year of entry. 5.18 Newcastle University will fulfil all of its commitments to returning students who entered prior to 2012. Full details are included in the Access Agreement for 2011 entry, entry (available here: 2011 Access Agreementon the OFFA website). 5 This funding is in the form of a National Health Service (NHS) bursary

Financial Support for Students. 5.1 The University is committed to providing financial assistance to students from lower income backgrounds and target under-represented groups. Students entering the University in 2012, who are ordinarily resident in the UK and to whom the home rate of tuition fee applies (subsequently referred to as ‘home UK students’) will be eligible for scholarship support according to the criteria below. Eligible EU students who meet the relevant criteria will be eligible for the fee-waiver elements of scholarship support. 5.2 Although research undertaken by XXXX OFFA suggests that there is little evidence that cash bursaries have any impact on students’ choice of institution, our assessment of the applications for hardship support over the past five years suggests that cash bursaries play an important part in reducing the financial burdens and debt for individual students. Our proposals for financial support therefore provide a balance of fee- waivers and cash bursaries to provide optimum support. 5.3 It is impossible to know at this stage how potential applicants will react to the new fees environment, especially those from target WP groups. It will be essential to review our approach to financial support in the light of our experience from 2012-13 onwards. 5.4 Our plans in this section take account of the following: Financial support schemes should be straightforward to communicate and to understand. Financial incentives should be offered to individual students who can be identified at the point of application (rather than providing a scheme based on entitlement, which has no direct impact on application patterns and decisions). Our commitment to regional WP students, through the PARTNERS programme, and to students entering through the national Realising Opportunities programme, should be a high priority. In addition to Government support, our proposed overall package of support for our students is generous: financial support averaging £2,000 per annum for the duration of undergraduate study (for more than a third of our students by 2015-16); additional funding for hardship support; and a wide range of paid placements and work opportunities on campus. In addition, we are seeking to minimise additional costs to students and to support some of the costs of compulsory field trips. 5.5 Newcastle University will fulfil all of its commitments to returning students who entered prior to 2012. Full details are included in the Access Agreement for 2011 entry, available here: 2011 Access Agreement

Financial Support for Students. 5.1 In response to the regulatory authority’s advice on the subject, the university will conduct an investigation into the effectiveness of its scholarships and bursaries, and will prepare to adjust its policy on scholarships in future years as a result. The University university is committed mindful of the challenges students face after the loss of the maintenance grant – accessed by an average of 25% of St Mary’s students when it was in effect – as well as possible changes to providing the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) and so will maintain our general Hardship Fund support at £200k for 2018/19 in order to best help students who most need specific financial assistance support whilst studying with us. As well as this, by 2018/19 we will have greatly increased the capacity for which we can help Care Leavers and Estranged students with this fund, enhancing our care and outreach to students studying with us, so that we may help them in any way we can. In relation to financial support, we have listened to student opinion and are therefore offering fewer fee waivers and more payments directly to them as part of their scholarships and bursaries. The emphasis of our financial support remains to provide the greatest benefit to the highest number of students whilst continuing to provide targeted support to other students such as Care Leavers, those identified through our outreach programme, and students from lower income backgrounds Catholic schools in line with our Catholic ethos, mission and target values. The financial support that is counted in our agreement is specifically targeted at under-represented groupsand disadvantaged groups in Catholic Schools. Students entering S t Mary’s Scholarships Up to 50 Scholarships of £6,000 awarded as cash or fee waivers over 3 years to students who meet the University in 2012following criteria: Successful applicants will be awarded the following:  Year 1: £3,000 as a cash award and/or tuition fee/accommodation fee waiver  Year 2: £2,000 as a cash award/tuition fee waiver  Year 3: £1,000 as a cash award/tuition fee waiver Successful applicants studying on a part-time course will receive a cash award on a pro-rata basis calculated according to their FTE. For example students undertaking 60 credits of an undergraduate degree with a tuition fee liability of £4,500 would be eligible for an award of £1,500 at Xxxxx 0, who are £1,000 at Level 2 and £500 at Level 3. To be eligible to apply for a St Mary’s Scholarship students must:  have an assessed annual household income below £25,000, and  have been offered a place on a full-time or part-time (minimum intensity of 25% of full-time degree) undergraduate degree course or foundation degree course, and  be ordinarily resident in the UK or the EU at the start of their course, and to whom the home rate of tuition fee applies (subsequently referred to as ‘home UK students’) will be eligible  have completed an Application for scholarship support according to the criteria below. Eligible EU students who meet Student Support through the relevant criteria will be eligible for the fee-waiver elements of scholarship support. 5.2 Although research undertaken by XXXX suggests awarding authority and agree that there is little evidence that cash bursaries have any impact on students’ choice of institution, our assessment of the applications for hardship support over the past five years suggests that cash bursaries play an important part in reducing the their financial burdens and debt for individual students. Our proposals for financial support therefore provide a balance of fee- waivers and cash bursaries to provide optimum support. 5.3 It is impossible to know at this stage how potential applicants will react to the new fees environment, especially those from target WP groups. It will be essential to review our approach to financial support in the light of our experience from 2012-13 onwards. 5.4 Our plans in this section take account of the following: Financial support schemes should be straightforward to communicate and to understand. Financial incentives should be offered to individual students who information can be identified at the point of application (rather than providing a scheme based on entitlement, which has no direct impact on application patterns and decisions). Our commitment to regional WP students, through the PARTNERS programmeshared with St Mary’s University, and  not be in receipt of full or part payment of fees through a sponsorship arrangement, and  be entrants new to students entering through the national Realising Opportunities programmehigher education in 2018, should be and  make/have made St Mary’s University a high priority. In addition to Government supportfirm choice, our proposed overall package of support for our students is generous: financial support averaging £2,000 per annum for the duration of undergraduate study (for more than a third of our students by 2015-16); additional funding for hardship support; and a wide range of paid placements and work opportunities  register on campus. an undergraduate/foundation degree course at St Mary’s University in September 2018 In addition, we are seeking student applicants must fulfil one or more of the following criteria:  be a student who has completed an Access course  be a student with a disability in receipt of a Disability Living Allowance  be a looked-after child/care leaver, or be a student receiving support from the Foyer Federation, and be 25 or under at the start of the academic year 2018/19  be a Young Carer1 under the age of 24 at the start of the academic year 2018/19  hold Refugee status  be the first generation2 in the family to minimise additional costs study in higher education  be studying in a school/college in one of the London Boroughs If the number of applications exceeds the number of scholarships to be awarded, priority will be given to students who fulfil the highest number of additional criteria and have the lowest assessed household income. 1 Young carers are defined as “young people aged 14-24 who care, unpaid, for a family member or friend with an illness or disability, mental health condition or an addiction” (Carers Trust 2015, ‘Supporting Students with Caring Responsibilities’, (England version). Caring responsibilities may include practical tasks, physical care, personal care, help with medication, managing family budgets, helping with communication, support for siblings, emotional support. 2 neither parent studied at university or holds a higher education qualification Up to support some 30 Scholarships of £1,000 awarded, in the costs first year of compulsory field trips. 5.5 Newcastle University will fulfil all study only, to UK & Republic of its commitments to returning Ireland students who entered prior achieve at least AAB at ‘A’ level or equivalent and:  have an assessed annual household income of less than £42,620, and  have completed a means-tested assessment through the relevant awarding authority and agree that their financial information can be shared with St Mary’s University, and  make/have made St Mary’s University a firm choice, and  register on a full-time undergraduate/foundation degree programme at St Mary’s University in September 2018. If the number of applications exceeds the maximum number to 2012. Full details are included in be awarded, these scholarships will be awarded to students who have the Access Agreement for 2011 entry, available here: 2011 Access Agreementlowest assessed household income at the time of allocating the Scholarships.

Financial Support for Students. 5.1 The University is has committed to providing reduce spending on financial support by removing Promise, Xxxxxxx and Access Scholarships from 2017 entry. The savings from this will be ring-fenced to scope, identify and address issues relating to student progression and success, subject to the outcome of any changes in external circumstances. Ideally, this will result in more staff resource in Student Wellbeing, and more investment in study skills support. In future years, this will also be used to cover the anticipated reduction in Student Opportunity funding. 5.2 The University will continue to provide targeted financial assistance to students from lower low income backgrounds and target under-represented groups, despite a reduction in funding in this area. Students entering the University in 20122018, who are ordinarily resident in the UK UK/EU and to whom the home rate of tuition fee applies (subsequently referred to as ‘home UK students’) will be eligible for scholarship support according to the criteria below. Eligible EU students who meet We are anticipating this to be circa. £5.5m, allocated to 3,630 undergraduates in the relevant criteria will be eligible for the fee-waiver elements form of scholarship supportOpportunity Scholarships (approximately 28% of students). 5.2 5.3 Although recent OFFA research undertaken by XXXX suggests that there is little evidence indicates that cash bursaries have any impact on may not affect students’ choice of institution, our assessment of the applications for hardship support over the past five years suggests shows that cash bursaries play an important part role in reducing the financial burdens burden and debt for individual studentsindividuals. Our proposals for 83.3% of Newcastle University recipients said that receiving a scholarship impacted a lot or somewhat on their ability to remain on their course. It is also clear that students favour money that supports their living costs, rather than fee discounts: 92.4% of respondents stated that a cash bursary over any other kind of incentive (fee discount, accommodation discount, equipment or vouchers) would influence their decision the most to accept their offer from the University. As a result, our financial support therefore provide a balance for 2018 entry focuses on the provision of fee- waivers and cash bursaries to provide optimum support. 5.3 It is impossible to know at this stage how potential applicants will react to the new fees environment, especially those from target WP groups. It will be essential to review our approach to financial support in the light of our experience from 2012-13 onwardsand student choice. 5.4 Our plans in this section take account of the following: Financial support schemes should be straightforward to communicate and to understand. Financial incentives should be offered to individual students who can be identified at the point of application (rather than providing a scheme based on entitlement, which has no direct impact on application patterns and decisions). Our commitment to regional WP students, through the PARTNERS programme, and to students entering through the national Realising Opportunities programme, should be a high priority. In addition to Government support, our proposed overall package of support for our students is generous: student financial support averaging £2,000 per annum provides: targeted support for the duration of undergraduate study (for more than a third of our students by 2015-16)study; additional funding for hardship support; support and a wide an extended range of paid placements and work opportunities on campus. In addition, we are seeking to minimise We have also reviewed and minimised additional costs to students and to as well as providing financial support some of towards the costs of compulsory field trips, and participation bursaries for low income students wanting to get involved in student clubs and societies. 5.5 Newcastle University is committed to improving our evaluation and assessing the impact of financial support in terms of access and student success. This year we propose to further develop this strand of our evaluation plan using the online tools and technical workbook recommended by OFFA, and will be reporting on findings in future monitoring returns. 5.6 The University’s financial support schemes will continue to be reviewed annually and may be revised again to reflect changing circumstances, student need, numbers and/or government support arrangements. 5.7 Our Student Financial Support for 2018 entry Home fee undergraduate students is as follows: Up to £25,000 £2,000 per year Paid as a cash bursary to all eligible UK/EU domiciled entrants in 2018 £25,001- £35,000 £1,000 per year Paid as a cash bursary to all eligible UK/EU domiciled entrants in 2018 5.8 Students eligible for a Newcastle University Opportunity Scholarship will be identified on the basis of their UCAS application and household income information provided by the Student Loans Company. Students do not have to apply separately, but must submit financial information to Student Finance England (or equivalent in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) for assessment. 5.9 The Student Financial Support arrangements described in this Access Agreement do not apply to students studying on certain programmes (or parts of programmes) funded under contract by the Department of Health5. Specifically:  Students on the graduate entry Accelerated Medicine degree are not eligible for funding under the provisions of this Access Agreement.  Students funded by the NHS for any part of their course are not eligible for Newcastle University Opportunity Scholarships in the year(s) when they receive NHS funding. This includes the fifth year of the five-year programmes in Medicine and Dentistry. 5.10 Students undertaking a placement year where the fee payable is £1,000, £1,025, £1,350, £1,385, £1,800 or £1,800 (see Section 2.4 above) are not eligible for a Scholarship during the placement year. 5.11 As part of our ongoing commitments as an exemplary accredited Buttle UK institution (a commitment that continues now the Buttle UK award has ended), we will provide financial support to students who have experienced local authority care (and who meet relevant criteria) of £2,000 through scholarships. This would usually be through the Opportunity Scholarship (Section 5.7) which is payable in each year of their course (though these scholarships are not payable during placement years). If they don’t meet the criteria for this scheme Care Leavers would be given a Care Leaver Bursary of equal value. For 2018 entry, we propose to extend this support to estranged students and young carers. 5.12 All students will be informed of available scholarships at various stages in the UCAS application cycle: on application; on receipt of an offer and during the conversion stage. 5.13 From the information which we have about our current students, we estimate that ca. 28% of our new entrants in 2017 are likely to receive financial support (compared to the projected 32% under the old model). 5.14 In addition to our Access Agreement financial support schemes, we also offer a range of bursaries, scholarships and prizes to recognise outstanding achievement (on entry or during the course). Some of these are targeted at students from low income backgrounds or other under-represented groups. Further information is available on our Subject Scholarships website and on individual subject websites. We include payments to relevant students in our annual monitoring return to OFFA. 5.15 All of Newcastle University’s PGCE programmes fall into the subject categories where generous Teaching Agency (TA) Training Bursaries are available for well-qualified students. We support this drive for excellence and do not offer additional bursaries to students who are not eligible for TA support. PGCE students who suffer financial hardship whilst at Newcastle University can apply for relevant support. 5.16 From 2012, the University covers the fee for all individual undergraduate students requiring a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check as a requirement of their course. For PGCE students with household income up to £42,600, the DBS costs will be funded as part of our Access Agreement Faculty commitments. 5.17 Continuing students who entered Newcastle University prior to 2017 will continue to receive financial support as specified in the relevant Access Agreement for their year of entry. 5.18 Newcastle University will fulfil all of its commitments to returning students who entered prior to 2012. Full details are included in the Access Agreement for 2011 entry, entry (available here: 2011 Access Agreementon the OFFA website). 5 This funding is in the form of a National Health Service (NHS) bursary

Financial Support for Students. 5.1 The University is has committed to reduce spending on financial support by removing Promise, Xxxxxxx and Access Scholarships from 2017 entry. The savings from this will be ring-fenced to scope, identify and address issues relating to student progression and success, subject to the outcome of any changes in external circumstances. Ideally, this will result in more staff resources in Student Wellbeing and more investment in providing study skills support for students. In future years, this will also be used to cover the anticipated reduction in Student Opportunity funding. 5.2 The University will continue to provide targeted financial assistance to students from lower income backgrounds and target under-represented groups, despite a reduction in funding in this area. Students entering the University in 20122017, who are ordinarily resident in the UK UK/EU and to whom the home rate of tuition fee applies (subsequently referred to as ‘home UK students’) will be eligible for scholarship support according to the criteria below. Eligible EU students who meet We are anticipating this to be circa. £5.5m, allocated to 3,630 undergraduates in the relevant criteria will be eligible for the fee-waiver elements form of scholarship supportOpportunity Scholarships (approximately 27.5% of students). 5.2 5.3 Although recent OFFA research undertaken by XXXX suggests that there is little evidence indicates that cash bursaries have any impact on may not affect students’ choice of institution, our assessment of the applications for hardship support over the past five years suggests shows that cash bursaries play an important part in reducing the financial burdens burden and debt for individual studentsindividuals. It is also clear that students favour money that supports their living costs, rather than fee discounts. Our proposals for financial support therefore provide a balance for 2017 entry focuses on the provision of fee- waivers and cash bursaries to provide optimum support. 5.3 It is impossible to know at this stage how potential applicants will react to the new fees environment, especially those from target WP groups. It will be essential to review our approach to financial support in the light of our experience from 2012-13 onwardsand student choice. 5.4 Our plans in this section take account of the following: Financial support schemes should be straightforward to communicate and to understand. Financial incentives should be offered to individual students who can be identified at the point of application (rather than providing a scheme based on entitlement, which has no direct impact on application patterns and decisions). Our commitment to regional WP students, through the PARTNERS programme, and to students entering through the national Realising Opportunities programme, should be a high priority. In addition to Government support, our proposed overall package of support for our students is generousprovides: targeted financial support averaging £2,000 per annum for the duration of undergraduate study (for more than a third of our students by 2015-16)study; additional funding for hardship support; and a wide an extended range of paid placements and work opportunities on campus. In addition, we are seeking to minimise We have also reviewed and minimised additional costs to students and to as well as providing financial support some of towards the costs of compulsory field trips, and participation bursaries for low income students wanting to get involved in student clubs and societies. 5.5 Newcastle University will fulfil all of its commitments to returning students who entered prior to 2012. Full details are included in the Access Agreement for 2011 entryentry (available on the OFFA website). 5.6 Our Student Financial Support for 2017 entry Home fee undergraduate students is as follows: Up to £25,000 £2,000 per year Paid as a cash bursary to all eligible UK/EU domiciled entrants in 2016 £25,001- £35,000 £1,000 per year Paid as a cash bursary to all eligible UK/EU domiciled entrants in 2016 5.7 Students eligible for a Newcastle University Opportunity Scholarship will be identified on the basis of their UCAS application and household income information provided by the Student Loans Company. Students do not have to apply separately, available herebut must submit financial information to Student Finance England (or equivalent in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) for assessment. 5.8 The Student Financial Support arrangements described in this Access Agreement do not apply to students studying on certain programmes (or parts of programmes) funded under contract by the Department of Health6. Specifically: 2011 • Students on the graduate entry Accelerated Medicine degree are not eligible for funding under the provisions of this Access Agreement. • Students funded by the NHS for any part of their course are not eligible for Newcastle University Opportunity Scholarships in the year(s) when they receive NHS funding. This includes the fifth year of the five-year programmes in Medicine and Dentistry. 5.9 Students undertaking a placement year where the fee payable is £1,000, £1,350 or £1,800 (see Section

Financial Support for Students. 5.1 The 9.1 Prior to September 2012 entry, Leeds Trinity University is committed to providing financial assistance offered means tested bursaries to students from enrolled on undergraduate programmes who were in receipt of either a full or partial Higher Education Maintenance Grant. This resulted in approximately 60% of students receiving a bursary and consequently was felt to not be effective in a targeted way. 9.2 Alternative systems of financial support were therefore reviewed and for students starting since September 2012 this was via the match-funding for students who were awarded a National Scholarship to ensure funds were targeted at those already identified as being most in need of financial support. In 2014/15, additional match funding was provided to guarantee a £2,500 award to every new student who met the national criteria and was on an undergraduate honours course. 9.3 The government’s decision to end the National Scholarship Programme for entrants after 2014/15 has prompted a refocus of some previous NSP investment towards additional support for access, student success and progression activities. Consequently, the investment in financial support is lower income backgrounds and target under-represented groups. Students entering the University in 2012, who are ordinarily resident than indicated in the UK and previous access agreement, although it is still felt important to whom the home rate of tuition fee applies (subsequently referred to as ‘home UK students’) will be eligible for scholarship have an appropriate financial support according to the criteria below. Eligible EU students who meet the relevant criteria will be eligible for the fee-waiver elements of scholarship supportpackage in a targeted way. 5.2 Although research undertaken by XXXX suggests 9.4 Two elements in the financial support package are a response to recently announced government changes. The first is to replace funding that there would previously have been available to students through the Disabled Students Allowances (DSA) and the second is little evidence to provide additional hardship support where it is felt that cash bursaries have any impact on students’ choice of institution, our assessment the mainstreaming of the applications for hardship support over the past five years suggests that cash bursaries play an important part in reducing the financial burdens and debt for individual students. Our proposals for financial support therefore provide Access to Learning Fund (ALF) into HEFCE’s student opportunity funding will leave a balance of fee- waivers and cash bursaries shortfall compared to provide optimum support. 5.3 It is impossible to know at this stage how potential applicants will react to the new fees environment, especially those from target WP groups. It will be essential to review our approach to financial support in the light of our experience from 2012-13 onwards. 5.4 Our plans in this section take account of the following: Financial support schemes should be straightforward to communicate and to understand. Financial incentives should be offered to individual students who can be identified at the point of application (rather than providing a scheme based on entitlement, which has no direct impact on application patterns and decisions). Our commitment to regional WP students, through the PARTNERS programme, and to students entering through the national Realising Opportunities programme, should be a high priority. In addition to Government support, our proposed overall package of support for our students is generous: financial support averaging £2,000 per annum for the duration of undergraduate study (for more than a third of our students by 2015-16); additional funding for hardship support; and a wide range of paid placements and work opportunities on campusneed. In addition, we are seeking to minimise additional costs targeted financial support is available for other priority groups, such as care leavers. 9.5 From 2015/16 entry (so for students starting from September 2015 onwards), a cash bursary will be provided to students in receipt of a full maintenance grant (the NSP group) to continue to target support at those identified as being in most need. This bursary will be a £1,000 award at Level 5 to students on an undergraduate honours course, so for 2015/16 entry the bursary will be paid in 2016/17. The decision to make the award at Level 5 rather than Level 4 was made in consultation with student representatives and aims to support some reflect that Level 5 is often a more difficult year financially as students move out of halls and off campus. 9.6 Full details of the costs of compulsory field tripsfinancial support package will be available on the Leeds Trinity university website. 5.5 Newcastle University 9.7 We will fulfil all of its commitments have evaluation programmes in place to returning students who entered prior capture how our financial support is helping to 2012. Full details are included in the Access Agreement for 2011 entry, available here: 2011 Access Agreementachieve our aims.

Financial Support for Students. 5.1 The University is has committed to reduce spending on financial support by removing Promise, Xxxxxxx and Access Scholarships from 2017 entry. The savings from this will be ring-fenced to scope, identify and address issues relating to student progression and success, subject to the outcome of any changes in external circumstances. Ideally, this will result in more staff resources in Student Wellbeing and more investment in providing study skills support for students. In future years, this will also be used to cover the anticipated reduction in Student Opportunity funding. 5.2 The University will continue to provide targeted financial assistance to students from lower income backgrounds and target under-represented groups, despite a reduction in funding in this area. Students entering the University in 20122017, who are ordinarily resident in the UK UK/EU and to whom the home rate of tuition fee applies (subsequently referred to as ‘home UK students’) will be eligible for scholarship support according to the criteria below. Eligible EU students who meet We are anticipating this to be circa. £5.5m, allocated to 3,630 undergraduates in the relevant criteria will be eligible for the fee-waiver elements form of scholarship supportOpportunity Scholarships (approximately 27.5% of students). 5.2 5.3 Although recent OFFA research undertaken by XXXX suggests that there is little evidence indicates that cash bursaries have any impact on may not affect students’ choice of institution, our assessment of the applications for hardship support over the past five years suggests shows that cash bursaries play an important part in reducing the financial burdens burden and debt for individual studentsindividuals. It is also clear that students favour money that supports their living costs, rather than fee discounts. Our proposals for financial support therefore provide a balance for 2017 entry focuses on the provision of fee- waivers and cash bursaries to provide optimum support. 5.3 It is impossible to know at this stage how potential applicants will react to the new fees environment, especially those from target WP groups. It will be essential to review our approach to financial support in the light of our experience from 2012-13 onwardsand student choice. 5.4 Our plans in this section take account of the following: Financial support schemes should be straightforward to communicate and to understand. Financial incentives should be offered to individual students who can be identified at the point of application (rather than providing a scheme based on entitlement, which has no direct impact on application patterns and decisions). Our commitment to regional WP students, through the PARTNERS programme, and to students entering through the national Realising Opportunities programme, should be a high priority. In addition to Government support, our proposed overall package of support for our students is generousprovides: targeted financial support averaging £2,000 per annum for the duration of undergraduate study (for more than a third of our students by 2015-16)study; additional funding for hardship support; and a wide an extended range of paid placements and work opportunities on campus. In addition, we are seeking to minimise We have also reviewed and minimised additional costs to students and to as well as providing financial support some of towards the costs of compulsory field trips, and participation bursaries for low income students wanting to get involved in student clubs and societies. 5.5 Newcastle University will fulfil all of its commitments to returning students who entered prior to 2012. Full details are included in the Access Agreement for 2011 entryentry (available on the OFFA website). 5.6 Our Student Financial Support for 2017 entry Home fee undergraduate students is as follows: Up to £25,000 £2,000 per year Paid as a cash bursary to all eligible UK/EU domiciled entrants in 2016 £25,001- £35,000 £1,000 per year Paid as a cash bursary to all eligible UK/EU domiciled entrants in 2016 5.7 Students eligible for a Newcastle University Opportunity Scholarship will be identified on the basis of their UCAS application and household income information provided by the Student Loans Company. Students do not have to apply separately, available herebut must submit financial information to Student Finance England (or equivalent in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) for assessment. 5.8 The Student Financial Support arrangements described in this Access Agreement do not apply to students studying on certain programmes (or parts of programmes) funded under contract by the Department of Health6. Specifically: 2011  Students on the graduate entry Accelerated Medicine degree are not eligible for funding under the provisions of this Access Agreement.  Students funded by the NHS for any part of their course are not eligible for Newcastle University Opportunity Scholarships in the year(s) when they receive NHS funding. This includes the fifth year of the five-year programmes in Medicine and Dentistry. 5.9 Students undertaking a placement year and liable for a lower fee (see Section 2.4 above) are not eligible for a Scholarship during the placement year. 5.10 As part of our ongoing commitments as an exemplary accredited Buttle UK institution (a commitment that continues now the Buttle UK award has ended), we will provide financial support to students who have experienced local authority care (and who meet relevant criteria) through our Access Agreement funds to support student success. 5.11 All students will be informed of available scholarships at various stages in the UCAS application cycle: on application; on receipt of an offer; and during the conversion stage. 6 This funding is in the form of a National Health Service (NHS) bursary 5.12 From the information which we have about our current students, we estimate that ca. 27.5% of our new entrants in 2017 are likely to receive financial support (compared to the projected 32% under the old model). 5.13 Evaluation will be undertaken re Newcastle University’s revised financial support model in order to monitor the impact of these changes. 5.14 The University’s financial support schemes are reviewed annually and may be revised again to reflect changing circumstances, student needs, numbers and/or government support arrangements. 5.15 In addition to our Access Agreement financial support schemes, we also offer a range of bursaries, scholarships and prizes to recognise outstanding achievement (on entry or during the course). Some of these are targeted at students from lower-income backgrounds or other under-represented groups. Further information is available on our Subject Scholarships website and on individual subject websites. We include payments to relevant students in our annual monitoring return to OFFA. 5.16 All of Newcastle University’s PGCE programmes fall into the subject categories where generous Teaching Agency (TA) Training Bursaries are available for well-qualified students. We support this drive for excellence and do not offer additional bursaries to students who are not eligible for TA support. PGCE students who suffer financial hardship whilst at Newcastle University can apply for relevant support. 5.17 In order to minimise the additional costs faced by students from 2012, the University has agreed that individual students will no longer be responsible for the costs relating to checking by the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau). For PGCE students with household income up to £42,600, the DBS costs will be funded as part of our Access Agreement Faculty commitments. 5.18 Continuing students who entered Newcastle University prior to 2017 will continue to receive financial support as specified in the relevant Access Agreement for their year of entry.