Drop in level of university income spent on outreach

However tables also show the level of income being investing in this support has dropped compared with the previous year in six of the nine universities in the region. The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) report shows that £36.1m was spent on bursaries and scholarships in the 2010/11 academic year across the nine universities in Yorkshire.

Another 3.5m was spent on what is known as outreach activities - such as going into schools to promote the idea of a university to children from backgrounds who might not otherwise have considered higher education.

In the 2010/11 academic year any universities which charged more than a basic level fee of £1,300 had to enter into an access agreement with OFFA in which they commit to support students from deprived backgrounds.

The top level fee charged by almost every university in the country was £3,290-a-year.

OFFA have produced tables showing what proportion of the extra income universities have raised by charging a higher fee has been spent on bursaries, scholarships and outreach activities.

They show that six out of the nine universities in Yorkshire spent a smaller share of this income in 2010/11 than they did in 2009/10.

Leeds University spent the most money in the region with £7.9m invested in bursaries and scholarships and another £400,000 on outreach. York St John spent the highest proportion of their extra income - 27.9 per cent.

Leeds Metropolitan University spent the lowest proportion of its extra income -12.9 per cent but was one of just three universities which spent more than in 2009/10 along with Sheffield and York St John.

Nationally spending on outreach activities such as summer schools and master classes to help pupils improve GCSE and A-level grades rose by 15 per cent last year to £45.7 million, up on £39.6 million in 2009/10.

OFFA said overall spending on measures to help students from less advantaged households and other under-represented groups such as those with disabilities rose to £424.2 million last year compared to £403.7 million in 2009/10.

Sir Martin Harris, director of Fair Access to Higher Education, said “we are satisfied that universities and colleges made progress against the targets they set themselves for 2010-11.

“We are particularly pleased with the progress made against outreach targets. This is because we believe that sustained, targeted outreach is key to sustaining and improving fair access.”