Nsf Appendixb

Appendix B: update and review of progress from Year 1

The establishment of the Forum has been welcomed across the sector, and its profile and impact is gradually increasing. Since the NSF’s first report was published in October 2008: Government responded to the Forum’s recommendations through its report, published in January 2009.* stakeholder and partner organisations continue to participate in Forum meetings to help advise and inform its recommendations the NSF engaged with Vice-Chancellors, UUK and other key higher education partners at a major seminar in May 2009 some individual institutions have begun to consider the implications of the first report’s recommendations for their practice36 Forum members have attended various sector events to discuss the Forum’s recommendations on particular topics in more detail, for example, members spoke on IAG at the National Conference for Teachers and Advisors and at The Career Development Organisation’s annual conference Although the Forum has gone on to look at a number of new areas in its second year, for students, the themes from last year have continued to resonate and the Forum has worked to keep these high on the agenda of government, universities and higher education partner bodies. We outline below the progress on the key topics discussed by the Forum last year.

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1. Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) One of the Forum’s key recommendations last year was the development of an online IAG portal to bring coherence, consistency and ultimately customisation to the plethora of information that is already available online. Its recommendations on IAG, prior to entering higher education, have remained high on the agenda this year: Government subsequently commissioned UCAS and NUS to undertake a review of on-line information and consider how it helped applicants to make well-informed choices. Forum members have been consulted during the course of the study and participated in the project steering group. BIS are now working with UCAS and Direct Government to see how they can improve sign-posting for prospective students. UCAS and NUS confirmed the Forum’s central finding – that the issue is navigation of information (not availability). Vice-chancellors met with the Forum in May to discuss how universities could improve the information they provide to students prior to entry into higher education Forum members were invited to further discuss the recommendations at conferences organised by CRAC: The Career Development Organisation, the National Council for Teachers and Advisors and the Higher Education Liaison Officers Association Last year, the Forum committed to continuing its work on IAG by looking at the needs of mature, part-time and postgraduate students and this is covered in the relevant chapters in this report.

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ropolitan s at Leeds Met Student Service ademic Board, Ac e th to r The Director of a briefing pape d te en consideration es pr ing ity giv Univers endations, and m m co re F NS outlining the ’s response. to the university at: per identified th The briefing pa of nts at the centre ... putting stude ng to t wi an vie lev re t re no is The report of the university insights rking... the risk at th wo is of m ys ru wa Fo r t ou uden the National St nt-centred may the outcomes of ing more stude m co be r fo ies and opportunit be missed. Briefing Paper, ademic Board Metropolitan Ac s ed Le : ce ur So February 2009

* The government’s full response can be accessed at http://www.dius.gov.uk/higher_education/students/student_ listening_programme/national_student_forum/~/media/ publications/R/response_to_national_student_forum_report

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2. Student Finance

3. Employability

Student Finance was a key theme for the Forum last year, with one of its major areas of concern being improvement to the Student Loans Company’s (SLC) service, which it committed to monitoring. The SLC returned in May 2009 to update the Forum on their progress including:

Although not originally identified as a priority area, employability emerged as a recurring issue across the Forum’s first year discussions. Therefore, last year the Forum developed informal proposals, rather than formal recommendations in this area. Its continuing importance – especially in the current economic climate – led to it remaining a key priority for Forum members this year, and this report dedicates a chapter to exploring this in more detail.

the launch of the new Student Finance England service the recruitment of new senior management responsible for customer experience the implementation of a customer engagement strategy The SLC also outlined the elements of the review that are still to come including: the My Fact Find service – an online calculator providing information on financial entitlement and comparing bursaries from different HE institutions the My Application and Offer programme – a simpler online application process which will work out from the student’s individual profile the steps they will need to take and remove the necessity to work through lengthy forms and guidance The Forum was particularly pleased to hear that the SLC is now actively listening to and acting upon customer feedback. The Forum will continue to monitor these developments and the impact they have upon students.

4. Specific student groups: International, Disabled and Postgraduate students Last year the Forum held subgroups to explore the concerns particular to Disabled Students, International Students and Postgraduate Students and published a series of draft proposals for further consideration by the full Forum this year. With the limited time available to the Forum in mind, it was agreed to: dedicate time to developing recommendations for improving the postgraduate experience as a priority (see chapter on Postgraduate students) review and refine the disabled student draft proposals, and publish the updated recommendations (see update on Disabled Students). The Forum also agreed to continue to consider all core topics from the perspective of equality and diversity for all students and to keep a watching brief as to whether it might be appropriate to hold further discrete subgroups in future review the international student draft proposals in the context of current developments in this arena, and identify any immediate implications for our work. The Forum was joined by UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), who updated members on the new immigration laws (‘Tier 4’) that will potentially have a great impact upon international students. The laws are designed to make the visa application more transparent, ensure those students that do come into the country have sufficient means to live comfortably during their time here, and allow them to remain in the country to contribute to the UK economy for two years after the completion of their studies. However, there may be unintended consequences, and we therefore agreed to suspend our work in this area for this year, until the effect of these new laws has become known.

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National Student Forum Annual Report 09 Electronic copies can be downloaded from www.nationalstudentforum.com