Evaluating the role of bursaries in widening participation in higher education: a review of the literature and evidence

ABSTRACT

The publication of the long-awaited Augar Report into post-18 education and funding provides a timely opportunity to examine the literature and evidence on the role of bursaries in widening participation (WP) in higher education. WP policies have sought to address discrepancies in the take-up of HE between different social groups, and the differential experiences (and outcomes) of students from different backgrounds, once they are at university. The effectiveness of bursaries to address this depends not only on their ability to compensate for financial disadvantage but also on the impact their provision can have on young people’s attitudes and students’ integration at university. This systematic review takes into account not only recent academic research undertaken in the area but also acknowledges the vast amount of research that governmental and non-governmental organisations undertake in relation to WP. The findings highlight the persistence of socioeconomic disparities in HE participation and, even amongst lower-income students who do attend, emphasise the continuing challenges they face to “fit in” to university life. Before provision of financial support can be effective, a consistent method to identify the most vulnerable groups of students is necessary. Whilst bursaries can overcome the financial barriers to participation, other non-financial challenges remain and the effectiveness of bursaries alone to promote greater diversity in HE is not yet proven. The strength-in-diversity the WP agenda aims to support will only be realised with a fairer distribution of quality and prestige across the sector and a more thorough “de-classing” of the institution of the university.

KEYWORDS:

• Bursaries
• widening participation
• higher education
• student financial aid
• access to education
• decision making

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. These rises refer to England and Wales; tuition fees were abolished in Scotland from 2001 and in Northern Ireland, fees were capped at £4,160 in 2018/19 for NI-based students (Gunson et al., 2018).

2. These reforms also brought in fees for part-time students (capped at £6,750 per year) and extended tuition fee loans to cover these (Hubble & Bolton, 2019). See Callender and Thomson (2018) for a more detailed discussion.

3. UK Department for Education (DfE); UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS); Office for Students (OfS) – and its predecessor body, the Office for Fair Access (OFFA); the Russell Group; the Sutton Trust; the Social Market Foundation (SMF); Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE); Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS); Universities UK (UUK).

4. Participation of Local Areas: an area-based measure indicating the relative proportion of young people participating in HE.

5. Parental occupation Routine/Manual.

6. The study uses the NS-SEC classification to group their participants into upper-class (groups 1–2), middle-class (groups 3–4) and lower-class (groups 5–8).