Understanding the impact of financial support on the experiences of university students with a disability, health condition or learning difference

We will present findings from an evaluation of financial support on students with disabilities using the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) endorsed toolkit in relation to access, support and retention at a post-1992 university in England. OFFA was set up under the Higher Education Act 2004 to ensure that the introduction of higher tuition fees in 2006/07 did not deter entrants to Higher Education (HE) and that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were committed to widening participation to previously under-represented and disadvantaged groups. OFFA approves and monitors annual Access Agreements (AAs) in which a HEI sets out its tuition fees and plans to “sustain or improve access, student success and progression” (OFFA, 2018). The Act also required HEIs to “dedicate a proportion of their tuition fee income from 2006 onwards to providing means-tested bursaries" (Harrison et al., 2018). An evaluation project was set up at a post-1992 university to evaluate the effectiveness of financial support including means-tested bursaries on students with a disability, health condition or learning difference. University students with disabilities often encounter greater barriers to learning and are at greater risk of poor academic performance than their peers (Reed et al., 2015). From 2016, following changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs), HE providers are expected to play an increasing role in supporting students with a disability. At this HEI, for example, £150k was set aside in 2016/17 to support students who previously would have been able to access DSAs. The project utilises an OFFA endorsed statistical model published by Sheffield Hallam University to evaluate the effectiveness of HEIs financial support packages (McCaig et al., 2016). The model consists of binary logistic regression analysis of HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) and SLC (Student Loans Company) datasets and is accompanied by survey and interview questions (ibid.). Following analysis of the available HESA compiled institutional datasets, a questionnaire in Qualtrics was disseminated to students in receipt of an institutional scholarship; a means-tested bursary for students with a parental household income below £40k in 2016/17; and other financial support provided by the university. Focus groups were also held with students with a disability from this cohort where issues such as eligibility criterion and disclosure (Kendall, 2016) were explored. Our presentation will draw on selected findings from this evaluation to explore the impact of financial support on students with disabilities in relation to access, support and retention