The Office of Fair Access (OFFA) has approved the University’s Access Agreement for 2016-17, to ensure talented students from all backgrounds can benefit from a Liverpool degree.
The University is committing a total of £11,695 million, 27.6% of its additional income to support students from poorer backgrounds.
This includes £9.8million on bursaries and scholarships, £1.25million on access and outreach work, and more than £600,000 on student success.
The agreement strengthens the University’s commitment to widening participation and includes new measures to support more mature students attending the University as well as increasing the number of students from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Laura Cattell, Head of Educational Opportunities, said: “Widening Participation of under-represented groups in Higher Education is central to our strategic vision and we are justifiably proud of achievements in this area.
“We are committed to ensuring that anyone with the qualifications, potential and determination to succeed has the opportunity to study at a leading university, irrespective of their background.
“A vast majority of our Access Agreement expenditure is allocated to supporting students once they get to the University through our substantial financial support package and numerous initiatives and services to support students pastorally and in their employability outcomes.”
The University has consistently been in the top five highest spending Russell Group universities in terms of Access Agreement expenditure.
From 2010/11 – 2013/14 the average Access Agreement expenditure for a Russell Group university was 29.9% compared with our average yearly spend of 34.6%.
The University is currently ranked first in the English Russell Group for the recruitment of students from Low Participation Neighbourhoods; first for the recruitment of students from State Schools and Colleges; and third for the proportion of students recruited from Lower Socio-Economic Groups.
In addition, the University’s apprenticeship programme has been expanded to include young people that are ‘Not in Education Employment or Training’ (NEETs).
In 2015-16, the University will launch its own two year graduate traineeships which will target proactively those students underrepresented in higher education further supporting the institutions social responsibility and civic engagement programme.
You can download the full access Agreement: https://www.offa.org.uk/agreements/University%20of%20Liverpool%201617.pdf