The University is proud of our strong record on access and widening participation. We are the leader in the Russell Group in attracting and recruiting students from state schools and more than 20 per cent of our students come from households with an income below £25,000.
In light of this‚ over the past few months we have given careful consideration to the level at which we should set our fees from 2012‚ when the new funding arrangements for higher education are introduced. Tomorrow (Tuesday 12 April) the University will announce a proposed standard fee of £9‚000 (subject to approval by the Office for Fair Access)‚ which we believe is necessary to secure the University’s future following the government funding cuts‚ and to enable us to continue investing in the high–class facilities and academic opportunities we offer our students.
We are also announcing major new investments to continue to attract the most talented students to Southampton, regardless of their background.
Fee waivers for 21 per cent of undergraduates in 2012
Our financial support package will be more focused on fee waivers than bursaries, in order to minimise the longer term debt for students from low household incomes.
In 2012, we anticipate that 21 per cent of our new undergraduate students will receive a fee waiver, reducing their fee costs to the minimum of £6,000 for each year of their degree. Another 15 per cent of our undergraduates will receive some form of financial assistance.
Our current bursary programme will be replaced with a focused scheme worth £300,000 to support students from our network of schools and colleges in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
As part of the standard fee we will incorporate the additional costs of our academic programmes, such as charges for compulsory field trips, that would normally be paid for separately.
The ‘Southampton Entitlement’
A new initiative, which we believe is unique to Southampton, will enable our students to customise the way they support their student experience. We will be introducing the “Southampton Entitlement”, a £300 per annum credit for all undergraduate students to spend on services such as sports membership, access to campus arts venues and local public transport.
Investment in student employability
A key outcome for our students is success in gaining employment after graduation. We will be enhancing our successful Careers Destination service with an additional £1 million investment in its activities.
We are also making a significant additional investment in our academic staff to guarantee contact time and improve our staff:student ratio.
Supporting outreach work
The University will take over the funding of the Aimhigher initiative cut by government and by 2014 will have quadrupled the funding to expand its outreach activities.
In the 2009/10 HESA performance indicator, 84.5 per cent of our students came from state schools. This is six per cent above our location adjusted benchmark.
Key facts
– Twenty-one per cent of our students come from households with an income below £25,000.
– 36 per cent of our undergraduate students will receive partial fee waivers in 2012.
– We are introducing a tapered fee waiver from household incomes between £25,001 and £42,600.
– £9,000 is the annual fee for full-time undergraduate study for UK/EU students enrolling in 2012. It will apply to Foundation Year courses, all years of study on Bachelors of Medicine and our four year integrated Masters courses.
– The government’s National Scholarship Programme will contribute less than 20 per cent of the cost of the University’s fee waiver scheme.
– Each student will have an academic advisor to support their independent learning and progress.
– The new flexible curriculum could see students expanding their knowledge by choosing to study a second language or explore a global challenge in another discipline.
– The Student: Staff ratio for the University is 13.9:1 against a sector average of 17:1.