LESSONS
Money
Matters
Money is fundamental when it comes to widening access, in every way possible.
Most people told us of their real, and perceived, fears about affordability and debt whilst being a student. The cost-of-living crisis has definitely made this more acute.
People also see the value of the investment that universities make in widening access and recognise that it takes significant resource to do this well.
money is a major pressure for individuals And institutions.
Living costs, loans, fear of debt, a cost-of-living crisis and the pressure of balancing work with study, are very real concerns for our 40 Faces. The need for more money in the pockets of students is one of the strongest calls-to-action from across our group.
Several people, including Jon, Rebecca and Jennifer, said that it was the availability of scholarships that were transformative for them, on top of other forms of student support. Some pointed to inequities in the current system. Megan points out that higher education is not “free” for those studying on a part-time basis. Both Jon and Jennifer make the point that the model of student finance assumes that parents can and will support their child through university. That is not always the case.
When thinking about achievement of the 2030 access targets, Rebecca and Karen spoke of the need for more resource going into university widening access initiatives. Jamie D wanted to see much more outreach taking place between schools, communities and universities, all of which takes resource.
Jamie’s observations flip the policy narrative entirely as he suggests that we need to address inequality in wider society first and not expect “already overstretched” universities to try and correct for that.
Meet them
University of Edinburgh
University of the West of Scotland
University of Strathclyde
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University
University of St Andrews
University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Megan ongley
Mathematics
Heriot-Watt University
— What was your motivation to go to university?
I decided to go to university after attending Heriot-Watt’s Brightest Watts event while I was at high school. This event showed me what university could be like and introduced me some of the possible courses I could take. Having moved to Scotland when I was a child meant my tuition fees were paid for and this definitely helped me to decide to pursue university.
— What advice would you give your younger self?
Don't be scared to ask questions. The likelihood of someone else also having the same question as you is high so it doesn't just help you, it helps others as well.
— In your experience, what more needs to be done to reach Scotland’s 2030 target to equalise access to university?
Part time students need funding too! I had to go part time or leave. Going part time was a hard decision as part time students don't get access to any loans or bursaries from SAAS.
Megan is first in her family to go to university and was a young carer.
"Part time students need funding too!”
Jamie Dalgoutte
Community Development officer
University of Glasgow
Jamie spent 21 years of his life in the care system. Now Diagnosed with CPTSD, Jamie has faced and overcome tremendous adversity.
— What was the most helpful thing the university did for you?
The university offered support from the widening participation (WP) team, building a relationship to support me fully with my commitment to my degree. I struggled massively with finances during university as a care experienced adult, but the WP team helped me whenever I needed it and without delay, and sometimes were my only point of contact so I truly felt cared for. I also received support with discretionary funding and supported to gain a scholarship.
— In ten years’ time what part of your university experience do you think will be most useful to you?
As a person who grew up in care my critical voice didn’t exist, the university taught me the skills to share my views and put things across in a way I was incapacitated to do. Learning my critical voice taught me to argue a perspective while hearing and respecting other people’s point of view.
— In your experience, what more needs to be done to reach Scotland’s 2030 target to equalise access to university?
University pre-entry classes should be introduced to deprived and low SIMD areas, showing aspiring students the skills needed for a life as a university student. Schools, colleges, and local authorities should be working together to prepare students for university life, including with children in residential care homes or care, and refugee resettlement programmes. Targeted FE and HE fairs in the community, and developing a volunteer mentor programme to build confidence and inspiration.
Better financial support such as providing payment plans/budgeting support to students enabling them to cover their costs, and financial advice. Students receiving student loans may have received more money than they’re used to.
"While at university I unlocked my potential for autonomy.”
Rebecca
munro
education liaison officer
University of St Andrews
Rebecca is a care experienced and estranged student.
— What was the most helpful thing the university did for you?
Given my circumstances of care-experience and estrangement, the University of St Andrews awarded me a financial-needs-based scholarship that made my transition to university possible. I would never have been able to embark on a degree without this or at the very least would have needed to work full-time hours on the side. In addition to this, I was supported throughout my UCAS application and my transition to the academic standard of university via skills workshops. These support mechanisms were pivotal to my capability in transitioning to university on a personal and academic level.
All the professional staff, lecturers and friends did not see me as a statistic but encouraged my aspirations and helped and guided me along the way.
— What advice would you give your younger self?
They would think it impossible to now obtain two degrees with distinction-level grades, considering we left school with a handful of uncompetitive grades, all whilst overcoming a plethora of challenges life has thrown at me. They also wouldn’t believe that we broke the cycle of our life and I’m now confidently setting myself on a new path that is different in every way from the one we started on.
“All the professional staff, lecturers and friends did not see me as a statistic but encouraged my aspirations.”
— In your experience, what more needs to be done to reach Scotland’s 2030 target to equalise access to university?
Firstly, I believe that funding is essential in ensuring the tireless work in widening access continues, as I have seen first-hand how pivotal funding can help me directly but also indirectly through the widening access practitioners who have supported me on my journey.
I now work in widening access within higher education and have seen in just a few months of employment that a lot still needs to be done for under-resourced people moving on to university, let alone raising aspirations. Therefore, widening access initiatives need funding and key players in this arena strengthening their partnerships.
“Funding is essential in ensuring the tireless work in widening access continues.”
Rebecca Munro spent her childhood in care and left school with few qualifications, becoming homeless. She was encouraged to go to Dundee College to do her Highers, thanks to the support of the Homeless Team in Dundee and from there, progressed to the University of St Andrews.
“a lot still needs to be done for under-resourced people moving on to university.”
Jennifer Lynch
Pure and applied chemistry
University of Strathclyde
Jennifer has experience of living in care.
— What was the most helpful thing the university did for you?
The university offered me scholarships for both my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, in collaboration with the Robertson Trust and the McGlashan Charitable Trust respectively. These allowed me to minimise the number of hours of paid work I needed to undertake alongside my studies, which I believe both improved my grades and allowed me to take part in various internships, sports, and societies. This significantly contributed to my transferable skills and personal development during my time at Strathclyde.
— What advice would you give your younger self?
I would advise my younger self to pursue every opportunity available to me, whether educational or extracurricular. Those of us from disadvantaged backgrounds are often not able to make good choices, because we are not given any good choices to make, so we need to make the most of the options we do have. You never know where, what or who an opportunity could lead you to, and even if it doesn’t work out as planned, it can help you grow, nonetheless.
— In your experience, what more needs to be done to reach Scotland’s 2030 target to equalise access to university?
We need either rent controls in the private sector, or a massive expansion of government and charity housing. Many students, even those not from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are having to work excessive hours alongside their degrees, just to pay their rent and utilities. There needs to be a review into how Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) assesses its funding, as it currently allocates funding on the basis that all parents are willing and able to contribute income to students’ educational costs, an often-outdated assumption. There also needs to be commitment to lock all student funding and scholarships to rise in line with the previous year’s inflation figures considering the cost-of-living crisis.
"The university offered me scholarships... These allowed me to minimise the number of hours of paid work I needed to undertake alongside my studies, which I believe both improved my grades and… significantly contributed to my transferable skills and personal development.”
Jon Gray
Psychology and Social
& Public Policy
University of Glasgow
Jon had a challenging homelife and became estranged from their parents as a teenager.
— What was your motivation to go to university?
Before becoming estranged, I never really thought I would go to university. I didn’t think I was ‘academic’ enough, and I didn’t feel like there was any way for me to be financially secure while at university.
— What was the most helpful/supportive thing the university did for you?
When I submitted my UCAS application, there was no ‘estranged’ option and at the time I didn’t recognise myself as care-experienced, so it wasn’t included in my application.
I typed in “estranged” on the website and found the contact details for Kirstin, who at the time was the Care Experience/Estranged support coordinator alongside Dan. I explained my situation to her and the next day my application was accepted, thanks to UofG’s adjusted offer for care-experienced and estranged students (which I didn’t even know existed). Kirstin was absolutely amazing in the months leading up to my first day at UofG – she went above and beyond to make sure I had bursaries, extended accommodation, pastoral support and everything else I needed to move to university as an independent student.
Unlike other services, Kirstin didn’t demand to see documents first and didn’t ask invasive questions, which made my first experience of university one of respect, dignity and genuine excitement. It’s thanks to that email and Kirstin and Dan’s support that I am at university now.
“she went above and beyond to make sure I had bursaries, extended accommodation, pastoral support and everything else I needed to move to university as an independent studenT.”
— In your experience, what more needs to be done to reach Scotland’s 2030 target to equalise access to university?
Firstly, we need to more closely match the income students receive from SAAS to the amount it costs for an independent adult to live. The maximum amount of student finance students can claim, even if their contributors earn nothing at all, is approximately 50% of a Living Wage income. This desperately needs to increase.
Secondly, we need to remove the implicit assumption that higher-income families can or will support their children to go to university, and push the boundaries for means-tested reductions significantly higher than they currently are so that far more students have access to the maximum amount of student finance. Many families choose not to support their children, causing these students to fall through the gap.
Glasgow University’s support
Jon was incredibly proactive in reaching out to the University of Glasgow, to let staff their know about their situation. The University was able to support Jon with a place on the Summer School, to ease their transition into study at the University, and with the Bursaries and Scholarships that could make full-time undergraduate study more of practical possibility.
As an estranged student living and studying entirely independently, Jon has had to navigate the challenges of finding a Guarantor to support their applications within the private rental market. The University’s nascent Guarantor Scheme assisted with this, but it was an incredibly stressful period, and Jon’s experience highlights a significant barrier that many estranged students face.
“It made my first experience of university one of respect, dignity and genuine excitement.”
“Many families choose not to support their children, causing these students to fall through the gap.”
Karen Hinton
Associate Director Marketing
University of Edinburgh
Karen was the first in her generation to go to university, thanks to a widening access schools programme.
— What was the most helpful thing the university did for you?
University gave me the chance to reinvent myself – to find my confidence, to make interesting friends, and to work out who I wanted to be. I took risks – I signed up for Work America in my first summer, and then did an internship in London for my third summer. The confidence that developed has been key to the successes I have had in my career.
— What do you think your younger self would think about where you are now?
My younger self would be amazed! Upon leaving university, I was immediately successful in getting a graduate job, and I have built a successful career. I don’t think my younger self would have believed that I’d be where I am now, and there’s no question that going to university made all of this happen. I would tell her not to be scared – to embrace the opportunities that university would give her.
— In your experience, what more needs to be done to reach Scotland’s 2030 target to equalise access to university?
I think the social and political rhetoric about the value of a university education should be as positive as possible – we should be celebrating the opportunities that a university education provides for those who embark on it, both during their studies and beyond.
We should be supporting the HE system properly so that a range of different HE opportunities are both available and celebrated, so students can choose the right opportunity for them.
"We should be supporting the HE system properly… so students can choose the right opportunity for them.”
Jamie kinlochAN
Therapist
University of the West of Scotland
Jamie was a mature student and the first in his family to go to university. He did so after first studying at college.
— What was the most helpful thing the university did for you?
The high-quality teaching that I received, particularly from Lynne Poole and Linda MacKay offered me a completely new way of understanding the world that I lived in. To understand that poverty and inequality were outcomes of political decisions was as disappointing to learn as it was liberating.
I also received discretionary funding from the university at times when money was tough - and being able to go through that process in a straight-forward, non-judgemental way made a difference at a stressful time.
— In ten years’ time what part of your university experience do you think will be most useful to you?
Studying social science at university was about having permission to think deeply about why things are done the way that they are. And whether or not there is a more just way to do things. This has been an important part of everything I have done since graduating from UWS - and it has resulted in me being part of campaigns that have changed government policy, creating services that support people in marginalised communities and receiving a BEM in the New Year’s Honours for my work.
“being able to go through that process in a straight-forward, non-judgemental way made a difference.”
“The high quality teaching that I received…offered me a completely new way of understanding the world that I lived in.”
— In your experience, what more needs to be done to reach Scotland’s 2030 target to equalise access to university?
The way to solve economic disadvantage is by creating a more just economy. Until that is the case, and we tackle the scarcity that has been created by wealth and power becoming more concentrated, our institutions may continue to lose public support because it seems like in order for someone to get a place, someone else has to lose out.
So, I think that we need to call time on the expectation that our already stretched education institutions will continue to mitigate social inequality.
If our government built more social housing, then more of us could live in affordable and secure homes while we study. If our health services reformed how counselling was delivered, then more of us could access the mental health support that we need to cope with life’s challenges. If student funding came in the form of a grant and reflected how much it actually costs to live, then more of us could focus on our studies without having to take on jobs that squeeze our time for learning and carrying tens of thousands of pounds into graduation."
“we need to call time on the expectation that our education institutions will continue to mitigate social inequality.”
JAKE DOUGLAS
Mathematics and Physics
Heriot-Watt University
Jake grew up in an SIMD20 area, and moved in with his grandparents under a kinship care arrangement at age 13 following the death of his Mum.
Sharon Mackay
Sharon is from a rural background and benefited from the Conservatoire’s Transitions programme before securing a place on her undergraduate degree.
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland