Market prompts bursary reviews

Two universities have sought official permission to improve the bursaries they will offer undergraduates in 2006 amid signs of market forces at work in higher education.

Three months after their initial access proposals were approved by the Office for Fair Access, Nottingham Trent and Sheffield Hallam universities have asked the regulator, Sir Martin Harris, to endorse changes to their bursary schemes.

Sheffield Hallam wants to give students eligible for state support a bursary of £700, rather than the £500 proposed originally. The change means that Sheffield Hallam will increase its spending on student support by £400,000 to £2.4 million in 2006.

Nottingham Trent wants to offer bursaries on a sliding scale of between £200 and £800 to those eligible for partial state support - students whose parents earn between £15,000 and £33,000 a year - instead of offering a flat rate of £250. Students from Nottinghamshire will be eligible for an extra £100. Nottingham Trent's changes will see an extra £240,000 devoted to student support next year, taking total spending on bursaries to more than £3.1 million.

The revisions will benefit students, so both universities will receive Offa approval this week.

But Julian Nichols, vice-president (education) of the National Union of Students, warned that frequent changes to bursaries and fees would cause further confusion.

"This is an early sign that market forces are at work in higher education.

It remains to be seen what other tricks universities and colleges will pull out of the bag as we move towards 2006," he said.

Sheffield Hallam said the changes were part of "an ongoing process that involved looking at student support needs, the changing market and our competitors".

Clive Macdonald, director of student services, said: "Our priority has been to put together a scheme that is as straightforward to understand and to administer as possible. We submitted an initial Offa proposal that met the criteria for acceptance while we continued the process of developing our scheme and making sure that it is as accessible, affordable and easily administered as possible."

But Nottingham Trent, which is still offering a £1,000 bursary to students eligible for full state support, said its changes were not linked to competitors' offers.

"The university has taken this decision to reflect the fact that the relative wealth of households just below and above the £15,000 threshold will be similar... this new, more balanced system will provide greater financial support for students in the £15,000-plus bracket," a spokeswoman said.

It also emerged that Offa will consult universities about its work this autumn. Sir Martin told The Times Higher he planned to publish a "draft strategic plan" and ask universities for comments.

He said he thought key issues for the future would centre on the promotion of good practice, particularly in relation to bursaries and collaboration with other bodies to ensure the widest dissemination of the support available to students.

But he said: "Perhaps most important of all, we will need to play a major role in evaluating what actually happens as the new regime of fees and student support takes effect during 2006."

paul.hill@thes.co.uk