Monday 28-07-2014 - 16:04

The University of Liverpool has now published its Access Agreement which explains how it will provide support for students who would be unlikely to attend University due to personal circumstances. We have read their ideas and the Guild is broadly supportive of their plans.

Here are a few of the main highlights from the agreement:

The University of Liverpool remain committed to recruiting students from state schools and lower socio-economic groups as part of their new access agreement. While they’re already the best out of all 24 Russell Group universities at doing this, it’s fantastic to know they will continue to make this their priority.

We are pleased to see that the University has offered a £2,000 bursary per year for students who come from families who earn up to £25,000, and a £1,000 bursary per year for those whose families earn between £2500 and £42,620. Local and national research has told us that the main reason students drop out of university is because of financial difficulties, and as such we hope that the University of Liverpool will reintroduce their £3000 bursary in the future. We firmly believe that bursaries and scholarships are the key to recruiting and retaining students through their university years.

We’re also looking forward to further discussing the Access to Learning Fund with the University. This fund is usually a last resort for students, and we look forward to the opportunity to share thoughts on how this money could be better used for the good of students.

We will continue to work closely with the University of Liverpool to make sure they fulfil what they have set out to do, and will also make sure your thoughts on areas of the access agreement are heard.

Read the full access agreement and our response here. Tell us what you think – email James Coe, Deputy President.

You can find more information on scholarships and bursaries here.