Universities and colleges have set themselves challenging new targets to make further and faster progress on fair access to Higher Education. The new targets, agreed with the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), form part of the 183 access agreements approved today, and will help meet a Government ambition to double the rate of students from disadvantaged backgrounds entering Higher Education.

Professor Les Ebdon, Director of Fair Access to Higher Education, said:

“The access agreements I have approved today show that universities and colleges are setting stretching and ambitious targets to attract students from disadvantaged areas and then support them through their studies. Our work with universities and colleges has really borne fruit over the last decade. There are now greater rates of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in Higher Education than ever before – but we know that talent is still being lost. Too many people who have the talent to excel are not given full opportunity to demonstrate their ability. Eroding the stubborn link between your background as a child and your life chances as an adult is a long-term project. But I am confident that this set of agreements can – and will – make a real and lasting difference for many years to come.

“I am enormously heartened to see the significant level of ambition in this set of access agreements. By making progress towards their own fair access challenges, universities and colleges will contribute to the Government’s national fair access goals. The Prime Minister and Minister for Universities have set a goal to double the rates of students from disadvantaged backgrounds by 2020, and these agreements send a clear message that universities are ready to do the hard work to make this target a reality.

“The work and ambition universities and colleges have committed to today will transform lives. The outreach work universities have planned will open the door to higher education for people who might otherwise have thought it was not for them. The people that universities work with now will go on to be the doctors, business leaders and engineers of the future.”

Each university and college with an access agreement sets their own targets depending on their own individual circumstances. These targets are then subject to OFFA’s approval. Among the targets universities and colleges have set for their 2016-17 access agreements are:

- All institutions have set a target on the make-up of their student body

- Around three quarters of institutions set a target to improve the rates of students continuing with their studies, while around 15 per cent set a specific target to help ensure that their students were well prepared for life after graduation.

- Many targets also focus on particular groups of disadvantaged students. For example:

- Over a fifth of institutions set targets designed to help care leavers access higher education and succeed in their studies

- Approximately forty per cent of institutions set targets around specific ethnic groups. This includes a range of targets to reduce attainment gaps between different groups of students

- Around a third of institutions set targets relating to disabled students.

In total, universities and colleges predict that they will invest £750.8 million in steady state through their 2016-17 access agreements. This consists of:

- £149.3 million on access activities. This includes long-term sustained outreach work, which identifies learners at an early stage, and helps to raise aspirations and attainment
- £148.0 million on work to support students through their studies – for example through tailored induction programmes for particular groups of students
- £54.6 million on progression activities, to ensure that students are well prepared for life after graduation
- £399.0 million on financial support, including bursaries, fee waivers and hardship funds.

Professor Ebdon continued:

“Our discussions and negotiations with universities and colleges have led to improved targets at 94 institutions. These new targets are evidence-led, strategic and deliverable, and I look forward to working with universities and colleges to make further, faster progress.”

For more information on the College's HE provision, click here.

Weston College's Access Agreement for 2016/17 has been approved by OFFA and outlines the measures the college will take to widen access to HE. Click here to download a PDF for more information.

A multi-million pound plan to create a brighter future for Weston-super-Mare's Winter Gardens has been approved by North Somerset Council.

Weston College will create a new Law and Professional Services Academy at the seafront site, while restoring the iconic ballroom to its former glory.

It is hoped this project will be the catalyst for bringing significantly more students to the town, and will play a key role in the council's bold plans for a prosperous, modern and vibrant town centre, in which learning plays a pivotal part.

In 2015, councillors agreed to transfer the landmark building to Weston College as part of the council's continued support and match funding for the delivery of the new Academy.

The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership has earmarked nearly £15 million for the project.

Redevelopment and modernisation of the building will include replacing part of it with a new two-storey extension containing lecture theatres, seminar rooms, meeting and conference spaces, offices and associated facilities.

The historic 1920s pavilion, ballroom and other parts of the Winter Gardens will be repaired and refurbished, and will remain available for wider community use.

Dr Paul Phillips OBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College, said: "I am delighted that North Somerset councillors have granted planning permission for this exciting development.

"We were approached by legal companies who wanted to establish a law and professional services academy in the area.

"This facility will meet the needs of employers and continue to raise Weston-super-Mare's reputation nationally as a centre of excellence for education and training.

"I also hope it will make a significant contribution towards the regeneration of the town centre, and also secures a brighter future for this prominent building which will once again become a jewel in Weston's crown."

North Somerset Council Leader, Cllr Nigel Ashton, said: "The expansion of further and higher education is central to our ambitious vision for the future of the town as a centre for the best of urban living, learning and lifestyle.

"This flagship project is a unique opportunity to inject vitality into the town centre through attracting new talent and a greater diversity of people to live in Weston, while addressing local skills gaps and creating new jobs at the same time.

"We really welcome the College's proposals to give a new lease of life to one of Weston's landmark buildings which will continue to be an important facility for the local community."

The Winter Gardens is due to be formally transferred to Weston College in spring 2016.

Once the funding from the West of England LEP is confirmed, work will begin in the hope of opening the new academy later in 2016.

Cornish pasties have provided students from Weston College with an insight into waste management.

Students on the Foundation Degree in Public and Environmental Health recently went on a field trip to Cornwall where they visited the Ginsters production site in Callington and discovered how waste generated from making 140,000,000 pasties and other pastry products each year is managed.

The students met with Mark Bartlett, the Environment Manager for Ginsters, and found out that while the site has huge potential to generate waste this is mitigated by a number of projects on site to minimise waste.

“What is most remarkable about this site is it is a Zero to Land Fill site,” said David Lown, Course Coordinator, Public and Environmental Health, at Weston College.

“There are many stories in the media about food waste so it is particularly beneficial for students to see such a good example of best practice in reducing waste and protecting the environment.”

Ginsters recycle 300 tonnes of cardboard and 100 tonnes of plastic each year, and the students were given a tour of the recycling plant and water treatment plant.

They were also shown the water treatment plant, and heard how each tonne of food product manufactured at Ginsters requires up to -four tonnes of water, making the water treatment plant an important cost effective facility.

The students heard that, despite the various methods on site to reduce food waste, Ginsters still generates 21,000 tonnes of food waste each year.

However, this is not wasted as it is used in an Anaerobic Digester where bacteria convert it into renewable electricity and fertilizer. The remaining 487 tonnes of waste that cannot be reused, recycled or bio-digested are sent to the Energy from Waste Plant in Avonmouth, Bristol, to generate yet more energy.

This was the fifth visit by Public and Environmental Health students at Weston College to the Ginsters site.

The field trip also included visits to the Eden Project to look at on-site health and safety, and to the National Trust property of Lanhydrock where they considered fire safety in a Victorian Country House.

They also looked at the environmental impacts from Wainwrights quarry near Frome, and undertook some field work monitoring water quality on Wembury beach in Devon.