Offa Access Agreement
The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) and the Access
Agreement
The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) was established in the
Higher Education Act 2004, and Sir Martin Harris was appointed as
Director of Fair Access on 15th October 2004.
OFFA aims to ensure that the introduction of variable tuition
fees in 2006/07 does not have a detrimental effect on widening
participation and that institutions are explicitly committed to
increasing the participation of under-represented groups in higher
education.
Institutions that decide to raise their full-time
undergraduate fees above the standard level are required to submit
an access agreement to OFFA.
An access agreement must include:
- fees the institution intends to charge
- amounts of additional fee income to be spent on access
measures
- bursaries and other financial support for students
- provision of information to students about the financial
support they can expect and the costs of studying on their
course
- outreach work involving raising aspirations and attainment and
encouraging students from under-represented groups to apply to
HE
- milestones the institution will use to monitor whether it is
making progress in improving access
- institutional monitoring arrangements
View
the access agreement online (PDF Format)
From September 2008, as part of its Access agreement, Bucks
New University is paying a bursary of £500 each year of study
to
every full-time UK/EU student paying £3,070
tuition fees, in addition to investing in an enhanced
student experience