2. Proposals for student number
controls in 2012-13

3. Presentation outline
• Entrant controls in 2012-13
• AAB+ equivalent students
• Core and margin

4. Entrant controls in 2012-13
• Government plans to free up student number controls for
around a quarter of student entrants
• Need to control the cost of the system, through controls
on student numbers, remains
• SNC will continue to apply to full-time UG and PGCE
entrants
• Institutions’ number controls will be reduced to allow
AAB+ and core-margin
• We anticipate further changes from 2013-14 (e.g. part-
time)

5. AAB+ equivalent students
• Unrestrained recruitment of AAB+ equivalent population
• Relatively stable population of around 70,000
• Government goals:
• competition for places on selective courses
• opportunity for more students to go to first choice
institution if that university wishes to take them
• “AAB will represent a starting point”

6. AAB+ equivalent students
• What is AAB+ equivalent?
• Best three A-levels
• BTEC National Diploma (Distinction, Distinction, Distinction)
• Best five Scottish Highers (A, A, B, B, B)
• Best four Irish Leaving Certificates (A1, A1, A1, B1)
• Grade A from a CACHE Level 3 diploma in Child Care and Education
• Grade D1 from an OCR National Extended Diploma
• A distinction from a NPTC Level 3 Land Based Extended Diploma
• Grade A* from a Progression Diploma
• International Baccalaureate (29 points)
• A first degree
• A postgraduate taught or research degree

7. AAB+ equivalent students
• How we will take away numbers
• Pro rata reductions:
• 7,500 UMF numbers (previously planned)
• 4,000 growth in AAB+ equivalent population
• Institution-specific reductions (2010-11 HESA data)
• Medicine and dentistry students
• Previously recruited AAB+ students
• Institutional core SNC remains

8. AAB+ equivalent students
• All institutions will be able to recruit as many AAB+
equivalent students as they want to and are able to
• Institutional core SNC remains
• (less reduction to create margin for £7.5k provision)
• Medicine and dentistry numbers still subject to separate
allocations and controls

9. Consultation question 4
We have been asked by the
Government to remove
students achieving AAB+
equivalent from the student
number controls. Do you have
any comments on our
proposed method of
implementing this?

10. AAB+ equivalent students
• We are interested in the impact on:
• widening participation, and fair access and social
mobility
• spread of provision across subject areas, for example
SIVS
• equality and diversity
• particular types of institution
• any other areas

11. Core and margin
• Flexible margin of 20,000 entrant places
• Quality provision
• Average net fee of £7,500 or less
• Government goals:
• make it easier for FECs and non-traditional providers
• Introduce competition to incentivise efficient
operation
• Government expects to increase the size of this margin

12. Core and margin
• How we will create the margin
• 20,000 cut (about 8%) from core remaining after
adjustments for AAB+ etc
• No cut from institutions without an Access Agreement

13. Core and margin
• How we will redistribute the margin
• Institutions bid for a number of places
• Panel decides allocations
End of October 2011 Call for bids, including detailed information on criteria
Early December 2011 Deadline for proposals
January 2012 Baseline student number controls confirmed
March 2012 Allocations confirmed as part of grant announcement

14. Core and margin
• Fee levels
• Average fee, net of fee waivers, of £7,500
• Institutions will, as part of bid, formally commit to fee
below £7,500
• Institutions will be asked to confirm fee level below
£7,500 when admissions process is complete

15. Core and margin
• Quality provision
• No single measure or metric – bids to draw on
sector-wide indicators of quality, for example:
• QAA audits/reviews
• Benchmarked NSS results
• HESA non-continuation and completion rates
• Evidence at a course level, where this is
available

16. Core and margin
• Other criteria
• Evidence the institution can reasonably be expected
to fill the places they are bidding for
• Additional Government priorities may emerge

17. Core and margin
• What happens if fewer than 20,000 places are
reallocated?
• What happens if more than 20,000 places are requested?
• What happens if places are allocated but not
subsequently filled?

18. Consultation question 5
The Government has asked us to
consult on a core/margin approach
to re-allocating places towards lower
fee provision in order to increase
choice, competition and fee
diversity. Do you have any
comments on our proposed method
of implementation?

19. Core and margin
• We are interested in the impact on:
• fee levels
• spread of provision across subject areas, for example
SIVS
• equality and diversity
• particular types of institution
• widening participation, including fair access and
social mobility
• student choice
• promoting diverse provision
• Any other areas

20. Indicative income for new-regime
full-time undergraduates
Basic rates excluding London weighting
HEFCE Price HEFCE Price HEFCE Price HEFCE Price
Group A Group B Group C Group D
Old regime (up to 2011-12 entry)
HEFCE teaching grant £13,335 £4,894 £3,426 £2,325
Regulated fee £3,375 £3,375 £3,375 £3,375
Total (2011-12 prices) £16,710 £8,269 £6,801 £5,700
New regime (from 2012-13 entry)
Approximate HEFCE £10,000 £1,500 0 0
teaching grant
Maximum regulated fee £6,000 - £9,000 £6,000 - £9,000 £6,000 - £9,000 £6,000 - £9,000
Total (2012-13 prices) £16,000 - £19,000 £7,500 - £10,500 £6,000 - £9,000 £6,000 - £9,000
These rates do not include non-mainstream teaching funding