Board of Management...2016/07/19 · 1 Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee Meeting...
183
Board of Management Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee Meeting of 19 July 2016
Transcript of Board of Management...2016/07/19 · 1 Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee Meeting...
Board of ManagementLearning & Teaching and Student Services Committee
Meeting of 19 July 2016
II
1
Meeting of 19 July 2016
Notice
Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee
NOTICE OF MEETING
There will be a meeting of the Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee on Tuesday 19 July 2016 in G10, Aberdeen City Campus. The meeting will commence following the conclusion of the preceding Board Meeting.
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENTMr. D AndersonMs. A BellMs. S CormackMr. D Duthie (Chair)Mr. J GallProf. J HarperMs. C InglisMs. S MassonMr. R McGregorMr. D RussellMs. A SimpsonMr. R WallenMs. K Wetherall
IN ATTENDANCEMr. N Cowie, Vice Principal Business ServicesMr. J Davidson, Vice Principal Learning & QualityMs. E Hart, Vice Principal Human ResourcesMs. P May, Secretary to the Board of ManagementMs. P Kesson, Minute Secretary
2
1
Meeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda
Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee
Agenda Meeting of 19 July 2016
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Minute of the Previous Meeting 2.1 Meeting of 17 May 2016 (paper enclosed)
3. Matters Arising from the Minute of the Previous Meeting (paper enclosed)
4. Report by the Principal (paper enclosed)
5. Matters for Decision5.1. Fees for Full-time Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland (paper enclosed) 5.2. Suggested Business of the Committee for 2016-17 (paper enclosed)
6. Matters for Discussion6.1. Apprenticeship Levy (paper enclosed)6.2. Full-time Student Applications for 2016-17 Update (paper enclosed)6.3. University Progression and Articulation Links (paper enclosed)6.4. School/College Links Activity (paper enclosed)6.5. Students’ Association Audit Outcome (paper enclosed)6.6. Students’ Association – Review and Budget (paper enclosed)6.7. Report from the Students’ Association (paper enclosed)
7. Papers for Information7.1. Student Activity 2015-16 (paper enclosed)7.2. Key Quality Performance Indicators (paper enclosed)7.3. Student Support Funds (paper enclosed)
8. Summation of Business and Date and Time of Next Meeting
Reserved Item of Business
9. Matter for Discussion9.1 Outreach Centres Update
10. Summation of Reserved Item of Business
2
1
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 2.1
Draft Minute of Meeting of 17 May 2016
The meeting commenced at 1400 hours.
PRESENT – K Anderson, D Anderson, S Cormack, D Duthie (Chair), J Harper, C Inglis, S Masson, R McGregor, D Russell, R Wallen, K WetherallIN ATTENDANCE – K Milroy, J Davidson, E Hart, P May, P KessonOBSERVER – K Donnelly
Mr Duthie welcomed Ms Donnelly who was attending the meeting as an observer.
1. Apologies for AbsenceApologies were received from A Bell and A Simpson.
2. Minute of previous MeetingThe Minute of Meeting held on 15 March 2016 was approved, subject to the amendment of the conclusion time of the meeting to read 1545 hours and not 1445 hours.
3. Matters arising from previous Meeting3.1 The Committee noted a report providing information on matters arising from the meeting
held on 15 March 2016. Mr Wallen provided additional information on strike action taken in March 2016 and
subsequent actions and outcomes. Additional information on matters relating to learner progression was also provided.
4. Report by the PrincipalThe Committee noted a report providing information on: visit to the College by the Chief Executive of the 157 Group; lecturers’ salaries; and the Student Achievement and Community Citizenship Awards.
Mr Wallen commented that the visit by the Chief Executive of the 157 Group had been a very useful one.
Members were also provided with details of Mr Wallen’s recent successful visit to Belfast as part of the 157 Group. It was noted that the members of the ‘Celtic Fringe’ had discussed areas of commonality. Mr Wallen also highlighted that an area of discussion had been apprenticeship levies. It was agreed that a paper on apprenticeship levies, including the view of local employers if possible, would be prepared for the next meeting of the Committee.
Mr Duthie commented on the very successful recent Student Achievement and Community Citizenship Awards and encouraged Members to attend future events.
5. Matters for Decision5.1 Student Code of Conduct and Student Disciplinary Policy & Procedure The Committee considered the updated Student Code of Conduct and Student Disciplinary
Policy & Procedure.
Members noted the information provided on the changes which had been made across both documents.
After some consideration the Committee approved the Student Code of Conduct, subject to a minor amendment in terms of ordering of ‘unacceptable behaviours’, and approved the Student Disciplinary Policy & Procedure as presented.
2
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 2.1
6. Matters for Discussion6.1 Quality Assurance Arrangements The Committee considered a paper providing an update on the Quality Improvement
and Assurance arrangements.
Information was provided on the work of the Quality Improvement and Assurance Committee (QIAC); and the outcome of Quality Improve and Assurance Arrangements.
The Committee was pleased to note the increased embodiment of quality into the curriculum, and the increased retention rate of students.
6.2 Regional Skills Strategy The Committee considered a paper providing information on the Regional Skills Strategy.
Members noted information provided on the background to the Strategy, and the current position, including uncertainty about the ownership of the Stratgey.
Mr Wallen advised Members of further changes to be made to the Strategy following a recent meeting of the Steering Group. Members agreed with Mr Milroy that the Strategy needs to be relevant, consistent, and reflect the Region’s current economic environment.
Mr Wallen advised that he and Mr Brodie, SDS, would meet with the Chief Executive of ONE to ensure the organisation is aware of the new Strategy.
6.3 Opportunity North East (ONE) The Committee considered a paper providing information about Opportunity North East
(ONE).
Members noted the information provided by Mr Wallen and by Ms Craw, Chief Executive of ONE.
6.4 Commission on Widening Access The Committee considered the final report on the Commission on Widening Access.
Members noted that the Scottish Government are looking to appoint a Commissioner for Widening Access.
Mr Wallen commented that the region’s ‘2+2’ arrangements have been very successful and it is a pity that this has not been emphasised in the report as an effective mechanism for widening access.
Members noted that the College already significantly contributes to the widening access agenda.
3
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 2.1
6.5 Fees for Full-time Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland The Committee considered the issue of setting an appropriate fee rate for full-time students
from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was noted that this matter had also been considered by the Finance and General Purposes Committee at its meeting held earlier in the day.
Mr Wallen informed Members that, following discussion, the Finance and General Purposes Committee had decided that the fee rate for non-advanced full-time Rest of UK (RUK) students will be in the range of £3,968 to £5,168 and the fee rate for advanced full-time RUK students will be in the range of £4,060 to £5,185.
It was recognised that the fee relating to OPITO students from the RUK would be dealt with as a separate commercial decision.
The Committee endorsed the decision made by the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
6.6 Students’ Association Update The Committee considered and noted a report from the two Presidents of the Students’
Association.
Members were informed of the outcome of the recent election process and Ms Hart confirmed that the structure for the Association in 2016-17 will consist of a Regional President and Depute President.
Mr Duthie congratulated Ms Wetherall on her recent re-election to the position of President. Ms Anderson was also thanked for her contribution to the Committee over the last year, and wished well in her new job.
7. Papers for Information7.1 Student Activity AY2015-16 The Committee considered a paper providing information on the current status of student
activity for the academic year 2015-16.
Members noted the current position in that the College activity level is sitting slightly ahead of the SFC planned activity target, with further credits planned to be generated through Business Community Development (BCD). Mr Wallen advised that BCD activity would continue to be monitored and if possible some BCD courses will be spanned into 2016-17 to enable the College to claim the related credits against next year’s activity target.
In noting a recent Public Audit Committee Report highlighting issues with the claiming of additionality at another college, Mr Wallen advised Members that clarification had been sought from the SFC regarding NESCol’s approach to additionality this year and advised that a response had yet to be received.
7.2 Key Quality Performance Indicators The Committee noted a paper providing information on key performance indicators
relating to the Quality function.
Information was provided on: lesson observation; external verification visits; student engagement; complaints; and compliments and thanks.
Members were pleased to see a reduction in the number of complaints and asked that staff be encouraged to forward compliments and thanks for central recording purposes.
4
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 2.1
7.3 Student Support Funds The Committee noted a paper providing information on amounts allocated for various
support funds and comparative spend of AY2015-16 and AY2014-15.
Information was provided on general rules for Bursary Funds; general rules for Discretionary and Childcare Funds; Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Programme; Disbursement of Funds in AY2015-16; SFC Allocation 2015-16; and current position for AY2016-17.
Members noted that the allocation for the current year had been reduced by £400,000 and the current overspend on support funds is £250,000, with the biggest overspend relating to childcare. Members acknowledged the increasing challenge for the College to continue to support an increasing number of students in light of current and future funding cuts.
Mr Milroy commented that it would be very useful if the Students’ Association were to highlight issues regarding student support funding cuts at a national level.
In response to a comment by Ms Anderson, Mr Wallen said that he would ensure that a key message regarding availability of student discretionary funds is displayed online (e.g. BlackBoard).
Ms Inglis left the meeting during discussion of the above item.
7.4 North East Scotland College Students’ Association – Conditions of Grant The Committee considered updated information on the Conditions of Grant for the
Students’ Association.
Members noted that a requested addition to the Conditions of Grant regarding the production of quarterly financial statements had been inserted.
It was agreed that the Association’s Financial Statements would require to be signed off by the Students’ Association Trustee Board prior to their consideration by the Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee.
The amended Conditions of Grant were approved.
8. Summation of Business and date and time of next MeetingThe Secretary gave a summation of the business conducted. The next meeting of the Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee is scheduled to take place on Tuesday19 July 2016 at 1400 hours.
Reserved Items of Business9. Matters for Discussion
9.1 Update on College Provision in North Aberdeenshire
9.2 SCQF Level 7
10. Summation of Reserved Items of BusinessThe Secretary gave a summation of the reserved items of business.
The meeting concluded at 1520 hours.
5
6
7
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 3
Matters Arising from the Minute of the Previous Meeting
1 Introduction1.1 This paper is to update the Committee on matters arising from the minute of the meeting
of 17 May 2016.
2 Matters Arising2.1 The following provide an update on matters discussed at the last meeting of the Committee:
5.1 Student Code of Conduct and Student Disciplinary Policy & Procedure The Code and Policy & Procedure have been finalised as agreed.
6.2 Regional Skills Strategy The meeting between the Principal, Mr Brodie, SDS, and the Chief Executive of ONE
remains to be scheduled as the Regional Skills Strategy has yet to be finalised.
6.5 Fees for Full-time Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland The Committee is asked to consider this matter further under Agenda Item 5.1.
6.6 Students’ Association Update The new Students’ Association Depute President, Josh Gall, will attend his first Board
Meeting on 19 July 2016. Josh will serve on the Human Resources and Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committees and will also attend his first Committee meetings on 19 July.
7.2 Key Quality Performance Indicators Following the issuing of a reminder to all staff to forward compliments received,
the number of compliments centrally recorded has increased from 12 to 26.
7.3 Student Support Funds As agreed, a message regarding availability of student discretionary funds was
posted on BlackBoard.
9.1 Update on College Provision in North Aberdeenshire A further update on this matter is provided under Agenda Item 9.1.
3 Recommendation3.1 It is recommended that the Committee note the contents of this paper.
Rob Wallen Pauline MayPrincipal Secretary to the Board of Management
8
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 3
9
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 4
Report by the Principal
1. Introduction1.1. The purpose of this report is to provide information to the Committee.
2. Audit2.1. The Audit and Risk Committee meets on 19 July 2016. The Committee will consider: reports
on the internal audit reviews undertaken in May 2016; reclassification; North East Scotland College Students’ Association and College policies. A report on the findings of the internal audit review of payroll appears on this agenda as a matter for discussion.
3. Site of the Former Balgownie Centre3.1. The bargain for the sale of the site has fallen because the prospective purchaser has
withdrawn from negotiations. The site has reverted to its previous status of being ‘held for sale’.
3.2. Advice has been received from Burness Paull and J&E Shepherd, chartered surveyors, that the market for housing development sites is at a low point and that the Balgownie site should be held for the present. The property market had shown some signs of recovery prior to the referendum on continued membership of the European Union. Advisors suggest that the position is next reviewed in September 2016, by which time there is expected to be more evidence of the recovery’s strength.
4. Estates Development Strategy4.1. In April 2016, the Board of Management adopted an estates development strategy
for the College. Design development of the preferred options set out in the strategy is almost complete at the time of writing. The designs will be presented to the Board of Management at a meeting that will take place on 19 July 2016.
5. Engineering Technologies, Fraserburgh Campus5.1. The project to refurbish and extend facilities at the Fraserburgh Campus is progressing
on schedule and within budget. The project team, construction contractor and College staff continue to have effective working relationships and good progress is being made. Phases 2 and 3 of the programme of works have begun on schedule.
6. CollegeEnergyEfficiencyPathfinder(CEEP)6.1. Information on this programme was presented to the Committee at its last meeting.
In June 2016, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) decided to defer further work on this programme pending the outcome of the Scottish Government’s spending review. The SFC expects that this initiative will be put ‘on hold’ until the end of the calendar year.
7. Support Services7.1. The three SFC funded institutions in the North East (North East Scotland College, the Robert
Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen) continue work to review professional and support services activities currently being undertaken at each institution, so that good practice might be identified and shared and that duplication might be avoided.
7.2. The Leadership Foundation, the organisation appointed to facilitate this work, now expects that the outputs of the exercise will be available in September 2016. These will take the form of a series of reports outlining findings and recommendations on the options available in relation to the future structure and delivery of shared professional services support across the three institutions.
8. Recommendation8.1. It is recommended that the Committee note the contents of this report.
Rob WallenPrincipal
10
11
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 5.1
Fees for Full-time Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland
1 Introduction1.1 The purpose of this paper is to provide the Committee with information about fee rates
for full-time students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This paper will also be considered by the Finance and General Purposes Committee at its meeting on 19 July 2016.
2 Background2.1 At its meeting on 17 May 2016 this Committee considered a paper on fees for full-time
students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland – for the purposes of this paper referred to as Rest of the UK (RUK).
2.2 At the meeting, the principle was adopted that the total income derived from an RUK student should be the same as that derived from a ‘home’ student for the same course – albeit derived from different sources.
2.3 In the paper considered at the meeting, tables were included that indicated the total income derived from different categories of students.
2.4 These tables were based on information from SFC.
2.5 Based on these tables, the Committee agreed that the fee rates for RUK students should be calculated on the basis of the credit-based funding and the fee paid (from whatever source) in relation to a ‘home’ student. This was:
• Non-advanced: £2,960-£4,160 (depending on price band) plus £1,008 = £3,968-£5,168
• Advanced: £2,775-£3,900 (depending on price band) plus £1,285 = £4,060-£5,185.
3 Further Consideration3.1 However, SFC has now provided further guidance.
3.2 They now indicate that, in the complexities of the SFC funding formulae, there is a provision that a deduction is made from the credit-based funding on the basis of the assumed fee income. In other words the effect is such that the credit-based funding is inclusive of the fee income.
3.3 As such if the RUK fee is to generate the same income as is obtained for each ‘home’ student, the fee rates should be:
• Non-advanced: £2,960-£4,160 (depending on price band)
• Advanced: £2,775-£3,900 (depending on price band).
3.4 Adopting these rates would ensure that there was consistency that could be defended in terms of treatment of students from all parts of the UK.
3.5 It is also the case that these slightly lower figures would be less of a barrier to RUK students undertaking a College course and therefore are less likely to reduce the number of RUK students undertaking College courses: that said the numbers involved are very low and as such it is unlikely to have much impact on College enrolment or College income whatever decision is taken.
12
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 5.1
4 Recommendation4.1 It is recommended that the Committee note the changed position regarding fees for
RUK students on full-time advanced level College courses.
Rob WallenPrincipal
13
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 5.2
Suggested Business of the Committee for 2016-17
1. Introduction1.1 The purpose of this paper is to suggest matters to be considered by the Learning & Teaching
and Student Services Committee of the Board of Management at its six scheduled meetings in academic year 2016-17.
2. Rationale2.1. The proposals for the business of the Committee take account of the Board of Management’s
obligation to:
• Ensure that the College operates ethically, responsibly and with respect for the environment and for society at large and will ensure that the College provides public benefit in Scotland and elsewhere through the advancement of education and training; and the advancement of citizenship or community development.
2.2. These suggested matters for decision and discussion also take full account of the Committee’s responsibility for monitoring the direction and performance of learning and teaching and the quality of learners’ experience at College.
2.3. The specific duties of the Committee are as follows:
• To maintain a strategic overview of the curriculum and the educational direction of the College
• To monitor quality improvement and assurance and enhancement including Key Performance Indicators and actions arising therefrom
• To approve and monitor the effectiveness of the Learning and Teaching Strategy
• To approve and monitor the effectiveness of the Student Support Strategy
• To approve and monitor the effectiveness of the Quality Improvement and Assurance Strategy
• To monitor the use of student support funds
• To receive reports on the work of the Academic Board and its sub-committees
• To receive reports on student activity levels
• To advise the Board of Management on matters relating to the student experience, including equality issues
• To ensure that the Board’s legal responsibilities with regard to the Students’ Association, as outlined in statute, are addressed and complied with.
• To oversee the relationship with the Students’ Association and to act as a communication link between the Association and the Board, in order to promote the student voice
• To approve the annual financial plans of the Students’ Association.
2.4. The proposed business of the Committee is designed to cover the breadth of these issues.
14
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 5.2
3. Proposals for the Business of the Committee3.1. It is proposed that the Committee will receive regular progress reports relating to the
Curriculum of North East Scotland College in 2016-17.
3.2. It is proposed that the Committee will receive regular progress reports on the impact of the quality improvement and assurance systems for North East Scotland College.
3.3. It is proposed that the Committee is provided with information on progress towards meeting the targets set for curriculum, quality and student services as set out in the Regional Outcome Agreement for the College.
3.4. It is proposed that the Committee will receive regular progress reports relating to Equality Outcomes for North East Scotland College.
3.5. The above information, together with detailed regular reports on key curriculum, quality and student services priorities for the College, will provide the Committee with information and data to support its monitoring role in relation to the delivery of a high quality regional curriculum, underpinned by high quality support services.
3.6. Attached as Appendix 1 to this paper is a proposed schedule for reporting to the Committee throughout the year, while recognising that other priorities and issues requiring the attention of the Committee will be addressed as they emerge.
4. Recommendation4.1. It is recommended that the Committee consider the proposals provided in this paper
and advise of any further information that would be helpful to Members in fulfilling their role and function.
Rob Wallen John DavidsonPrincipal Vice Principal - Learning and Quality
1
Agenda Item 5.2
Appendix 1 Proposed Schedule for Reporting
13 September 2016 For decision For discussion Student Applications for 2016-17 JD Foundation Apprenticeships JD The North East Scotland College Curriculum for 2017-18 JD Learner Progression – First Destination 2014-15 JD Students’ Association KW Modern Apprenticeships – 2016-17 Recruitment NC For information Student Activity for 2015-16 – Final Count JD Performance Indicators JD Student Support Funds NC
15 November 2016 For decision For discussion Report on the Work of the Academic Board and its Sub-committees JD Quality Assurance Arrangements for NESCol JD Curriculum and Student Services Review JD Report on Non-SFC Funded Activity NC Equality Outcomes EH Students’ Association KW For information Student Activity for 2016-17 JD Student Survey – First Impression JD Student Support Funds NC
24 January 2017 For decision Course Fee Policy NC For discussion Student Retention Update for 2016-17 JD Progress with Curriculum and Student Services Objectives in ROA for 2016-17
JD/RW
Learner Progression – First Destination 2015-16 JD 2015/16 Enrolment by Age and Gender JD Equality Outcomes EH Students’ Association KW For information Student Activity for 2016-17 JD Performance Indicators JD Student Support Funds NC
2
14 March 2017
For decision For discussion Promoting Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in Learning at NESCol JD Curriculum Planning Arrangements for 2017-18 JD European Projects Update RW Equality Outcomes EH Students’ Association KW For information Student Activity for 2016-17 JD Performance Indicators JD Student Support Funds NC
16 May 2017 For decision College/Local Authority/ School Partnership Policy JD For discussion OGAS Outcomes and Impact RW Status Report on Quality Assurance Systems JD Students’ Association KW For information Student Activity for 2016-17 JD Student Survey – Satisfaction and Engagement JD Student Support Funds NC
18 July 2017 For decision Suggested Business of the Committee for 2017-18 JD International Links Policy JD Information, Advice, Guidance and Support Policy JD For discussion Promotion of Good Practice in Learning and Teaching JD University Progression and Articulation Links JD Equality Outcomes EH Students’ Association KW For information Student Activity for 2016-17 JD Performance Indicators JD Student Support Funds NC
17
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.1
Apprenticeship Levy
1. Introduction1.1. The purpose of this report is to provide Committee members with information on the
proposed Apprenticeship Levy.
2. Background2.1. In 2015 the UK Government announced plans for a UK-wide apprenticeship levy on
employer payroll bills. The Levy is seen as a means for funding an increased uptake of high quality apprenticeships.
2.2. It is anticipated that legislation will be introduced in 2016 and the Levy itself will be payable from April 2017 onwards. It will be set at 0.5% of an employer’s annual wage bill and each employer will receive an allowance of £15k per year to offset against the levy.
2.3. All employers - including North East Scotland College - with a wage bill over £3 million will pay the Levy through a system administered by HM Revenues & Customs (HMRC).
2.4. Central to the implementation of the Levy in Scotland will be Skills Development Scotland (SDS) who have been asked to engage with employers in order to establish how best the Levy can meet employer need. The creation, by SDS, of the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board aims to strengthen the role of employers in apprenticeships.
2.5. It is estimated that the Scottish share of the revenue from the Levy will be around £200m per annum.
2.6. Unlike the UK Government the Scottish Government (SG) has not confirmed whether the revenues raised through the Levy will be ring-fenced for apprenticeships. In addition, the SG has not yet decided on the delivery mechanism for the Levy in Scotland.
2.7. There is a strong general feeling within the college sector in Scotland that there is a lack of information on this initiative.
3. Colleges Scotland – Short Life Working Group (SLWG)3.1. In response to the Apprenticeship Levy and in light of this lack of information, Colleges
Scotland has initiated a SLWG to influence the Scottish Government’s thinking in relation to the Apprenticeship Levy to maximise the benefits of the additional apprenticeships by the college sector.
3.2. The membership of the SLWG includes North East Scotland College’s (NESCol) Vice Principal – Business Services.
3.3. The remit of Colleges Scotland SLWG’s is highlighted in Appendix 1 of this paper.
3.4. In summary it has been agreed that the Group will gather relevant background material on this initiative in order to inform the wider college sector on how apprenticeships will be delivered through the Apprenticeship Levy. The SLWG is also charged with advising the various stakeholders involved with the Levy on how to improve the current process for the delivery of the anticipated additional 30,000 apprenticeships in Scotland.
3.5. The SLWG has also identified a set of specific deliverables, the full list of which is identified in Appendix 1. However, the SLWG has already prioritised the importance of certain key deliverables including identifying and promoting to key stakeholders the existing strengths, mechanisms and best practice within the college sector to secure the best possible outcomes from the Apprenticeship Levy scheme.
18
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.1
3.6. To that end it is proposed that members of the SLWG seek to hold, by the end of June 2016, a meeting with Scottish Government minister Jamie Hepburn MSP to discuss the role of the college sector.
3.7. It has been agreed that action minutes and updates on progress will be provided to the College Principals’ Group by the chair of the SLWG, via Colleges Scotland.
4. The Colleges Scotland SLWG – Progress to Date4.1. The first meeting of the SLWG took place on 10 June, 2016 and there are another four
meetings scheduled during July and August 2016.
4.2. The initial meeting of the Group identified a number of areas that needed further consideration. These included:
• The risk of losing the training of staff of cross border companies to England and Wales;
• The needs of employers and how colleges can meet these needs;
• The need for colleges, along with other key stakeholders (e.g. Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland and employers) to build the capacity to deliver positive outcomes in relation to the Levy;
• How best to promote to key stakeholders how colleges can already offer ‘a complete package’ for meeting the requirements of the scheme;
• How best to promote (or re-emphasise) the college sector’s involvement in key Scottish Government policy drivers, such as widening access, increasing attainment, DYW etc;
• How best to develop college capacity as a way to build the economy, and to promote attainment (including in STEM subjects).
4.3. The SLWG has already agreed a series of ‘next steps’ which include:
• To begin discussions to identify potential common causes between the College sector and SDS;
• To seek a meeting with Jamie Hepburn MSP and brief him and other MSPs;
• To seek wider meetings, including with SFC, CBI, FSB, DYW groups, Chamber of Commerce etc. to seek their views;
• To produce an introductory information sheet for key employers;
• To produce media lines for colleges relating to the Apprenticeship Levy;
• To update and keep informed the Colleges Scotland Board and College Principals’ Group.
5. The Apprenticeship Levy - Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and Local Employers5.1. NESCol staff have already engaged with Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce
(AGCC) to ensure that the College has awareness of employer needs in North East Scotland and can begin building its capacity to deliver, as well as possible, what will be required for employers in terms of the Apprenticeship Levy.
5.2. As previously mentioned there remains, at a local and national level, considerable gaps in the knowledge of many stakeholders regarding the Levy. In a recent information session hosted by AGCC, and attended by NESCol staff and local employers, the AGCC facilitated extensive discussion on the ‘gaps’ that stakeholders had in relation to understanding the Apprenticeship Levy. A note of the outcomes of this meeting is contained in Appendix 2 of this paper.
19
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.1
5.3. As the work of the Colleges Scotland’s SLWG develops, and as the information relating to the implementation of the Apprenticeship Levy improves, the College will continue to work closely with key partners and stakeholders including Colleges Scotland, SDS, SG, AGCC and local employers to ensure that it is best placed to meet their needs and the requirements of the Apprenticeship Levy scheme.
5.4. Further updates on the Apprenticeship Levy-related work of Colleges Scotland’s SLWG and the College itself will be submitted to future meetings of the Committee
6. Recommendation6.1. It is recommended that the Committee consider the information contained in this paper.
Rob Wallen Neil CowiePrincipal Vice Principal – Business Services
20
Agenda Item 6.1 Appendix 1
Colleges Scotland Short Life Working Group Apprenticeship Levy – Short Life Working Group (SLWG) Proposal The SLWG is to develop ideas in order to take advantage of the window of opportunity to influence the Scottish Government’s thinking in relation to the development of the delivery methodology for the Apprenticeship Levy resource. These are ideas to maximise the benefits of delivery of the additional apprenticeships through the college sector. Remit • Gather relevant background material and the Scottish Government key contacts. • To produce viable suggestion(s) that allows the college sector to demonstrate to Scottish
Government and other key stakeholders how colleges can, in relation to apprenticeships, contribute to:
o Effective use of public resources o Support plans for skills development o Support the economy
Membership See Appendix 1 to this paper. The SLWG will choose a chair at the first meeting from amongst the members of the SLWG. Co-option The SLWG may co-opt additional members, subject to approval of the chair of the SLWG. Schedule of Meetings The SLWG will meet as and when required, but can also agree work by correspondence if deemed appropriate by the chair of the SLWG. Specific Deliverables • To provide background information on apprenticeships and the Apprenticeship Levy. • To provide background information and evidence which promotes the college sector as a key
player in the delivery of apprenticeships funded by the Apprenticeship Levy. • To identify and promote existing strengths, mechanisms and best practice in the sector which
deliver positive outcomes from funded initiatives. • To review, evaluate and identify strengths and opportunities for improvement in the current
process for the delivery of the target of 30,000 apprenticeships. • To produce a document which outlines viable proposals and principles to support the SLWG
remit in a format to be shared with Scottish Government, by end June 2016.
• To hold a meeting with the relevant Scottish Government minister – Jamie Hepburn MSP – by end June 2016.
• To produce a document which sets out in more details the proposals to support the SLWG remit, by end July 2016.
• To support any further related work as a result of on-going discussions with the Scottish Government.
Authority This SLWG is authorised to consider any matters which fall within its Terms of Reference. The SLWG is authorised to seek and obtain any information it requires from the college sector whilst taking account of policy, legal rights and responsibilities. Reporting Arrangements Action minutes will be kept of the meetings of the SLWG: See Appendix 2 to this paper – Action Item template. Action minutes and updates on progress will be provided to the College Principals’ Group by the chair of the SLWG, supported by Colleges Scotland. Feedback to the SLWG from the College Principals’ Group will be co-ordinated through the chair of the SLWG, supported by Colleges Scotland. Point of Contact Andrew Witty, Funding and Finance Policy Lead ([email protected]) 01786 892058 Colleges Scotland June 2016
Mem
bership A
pprenticeship Levy – Short Life Working G
roup (SLWG
) – Mem
bership N
eil Cow
ie V
ice Principal – B
usiness S
ervices N
orth East S
cotland College
ncowie@
nescol.ac.uk
Colette Filippi
Associative P
rincipal and E
xecutive Director for
Business D
evelopment
Forth Valley C
ollege colette.filippi@
forthvalley.ac.uk
David Innes
Director of Faculty,
Engineering and B
uilt E
nvironment
Glasgow
Clyde C
ollege dinnes@
glasgowclyde.ac.uk
Hugh Logan
Principal
Fife College
annemaddy@
fife.ac.uk S
tuart Millar
Director of E
ducation C
ontracts and Business
Developm
ent
Ayrshire C
ollege stuart.m
Alan S
herry P
rincipal G
lasgow K
elvin College
asherry@glasgow
kelvin.ac.uk am
ckenna@glasgow
kelvin.ac.uk A
ngela M
cCusker
Regional C
hair D
undee and Angus C
ollege angela.m
24
Agenda Item 6.1 Appendix 2
Apprenticeship Levy meeting – 27 May 2016
Summary note The process
Christine Currie, policy manager at OPITO, gave an overview of what is known so far regarding the levy payments. Liz Cameron, chief executive at Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC), said that Scottish businesses are concerned because they are planning for the next 3 – 4 years in their training programmes and there has been little communication from the Scottish Government. Liz said that she has met with Scottish Government representatives who indicated that they have engaged with more than 200 businesses and they seem keen to get direction and ideas from employers at this time. James Bream, research and policy director at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC), explained the activities to participants - to identify gaps in information regarding the apprenticeship levy and then provide their suggestions for how the levy could be implemented.
Outcome of activities Devolution to Scotland
Gaps in knowledge Ideas and suggestions
1. What amount will be allocated to Scotland?
The UK Government has yet to clarify whether the allocations to Scotland will be based on proportion of the levy paid or the number of employees in Scotland.
James and Liz noted that there may be differences in wages and employment between Scotland and England, as well as between sectors (e.g. the oil and gas industry pays higher-than-average wages).
The appropriate amount should be allocated based on what Scottish employers pay through PAYE, i.e. if Scotland’s (HQ’d) employers contribute 10% of funding then 10% should come back to Scotland.
2. Should there be a commitment from Government that all companies will get back in benefits at least what they put in towards the levy?
In principle yes, though it would not be realistic if there was insufficient employer demand for apprenticeships. Employers do not want the money to sit idle, it should be spent appropriately.
However, later in the discussion it was suggested that demand may take care of itself, due to the “new” money from the levy.
There was still concern that there would be insufficient supply:
Gaps in knowledge Ideas and suggestions
The Scottish Government should demonstrate that there will be enough commitments from providers to cover demand, which may increase with the availability of levy funds. If not, it may be necessary to examine the caps currently set on providers or add new spending opportunities not limited to Modern Apprenticeships. The funding MUST NOT be lost to its core purpose of developing our workforce.
3. Does the Apprenticeship Levy represent opportunities to address gaps in Scotland’s current apprenticeship offer?
Yes, it potentially provides an opportunity to address broader training gaps in certain areas.
4. Who should businesses and industry representatives engage at government level?
Scottish Government
Education and Skills - Jamie Hepburn MSP, Minister for Employability and Training; John Swinney MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Budget: Derek Mackay MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution
North-east MSPs, depending on constituency
Oil and gas: Scottish Government Skill Industry Group Secretariat, Sarah Hart
5. Should there be a commitment from the Scottish Government that the apprenticeship levy is an addition to current apprenticeship funding? (i.e. both are ring-fenced)
Yes.
The Scottish Government should know which revenues are already in place. The “new” money from the levy should be additional to that. The Government must demonstrate that the funding is an uplift from historic SDS funding.
6. Can age-related funding be removed, as well as the 25-year-old cap?
While the payroll levy will apply across the board, there is currently no funding available for apprentices over 25 years old.
Funding should not be limited by age groups, it should be broader.
Employers’ use of levy funds (England)
Gaps in knowledge Ideas and suggestions
1. Will there be a funding ceiling for each apprenticeship?
The model set by SDS should be followed.
2. What impact, if any, has the impending Levy had on your training programmes for 2017?
The existing workforce planning is unchanged at this point in time. However, plans may change once more details are published. For example, if it was known that there would be more funding for apprenticeships, it would serve as positive reinforcement. If no detail is available at budget setting in July 2016, plans could be delayed.
3. What standards are important to you
when choosing a training provider?
Attendees agreed on the following criteria:
- A proven track record - Quality - Capacity - Appropriate facilities - Accreditation
It was mentioned that England seems to be ahead of Scotland in the sense that some providers accredited in England are not accredited in Scotland.
Attendees said they would be reluctant to change providers and although they would prioritise quality and delivery, they want the UK and Scottish governments to accredit jointly.
4. Will the digital vouchers be transferrable across borders?
SDS appear to have ruled out the use of digital vouchers in Scotland.
If digital vouchers are to be used it would be desirable for these to be available to ‘spend’ in both Scotland and England. Other preferred options to ‘spend’ budget available to companies is discussed later.
5. Are SDS funds transferrable back across borders?
No
6. Will there be a different trainingframework?
There already exist different training programmes and accreditations.
7. Will employers be able to transferfunding to a training provider of their choice?
Yes, as long they are approved training providers based on the new apprenticeship accreditation agency.
Employers’ use of levy funds (Scotland)
Gaps in knowledge Ideas and suggestions
1. Will the Scottish Government ringfencethe Levy funding for apprenticeships only?
The levy funds should not be strictly limited to apprenticeships. Ideally employers should be allowed to use the funds for “quality assured training” which meets their business’ growth plans but there should be an assumption toward spending on apprenticeships first. It is critical that advanced apprenticeships and foundation apprenticeships are available ASAP to meet the timelines of the levy introduction.
See question 5 below.
2. Will Scottish employers be able to claimfunding for apprenticeships and training within their supply chain?
The levy objectives should be examined before the Scottish government raises any obstacles in this regard.
Where companies are already paying for apprenticeship programmes or accredited training, they should be able to develop their own “supply chain programme”, thus transferring the benefits of the funds raised across the country.
3. Will employers be allowed to use levyfunds for additional training costs?
E.g.: accommodation assistance for apprentices away from home, or training opportunities such as graduate training and cross-sector retraining.
Accredited specialist training programmes are important for businesses, especially cross-sector training.
The priorities of apprenticeships or what the levy funds are used for must be employer-led.
4. Can the levy be used to coverapprentices’ salary costs, or only their training?
The levy funds should only be used for the training and not their salary with the exception of micro businesses.
There should be a bias in favour of micro employers where it may be harder for them to recruit as the marginal impact is greater.
5. Will funding be restricted to accreditedtraining only? What would be the criteria for accrediting programmes? Some providers, though not accredited, may be
appropriate to meet employers’ aims.
The guideline should be that levy-funded training must be aligned to the business’ activity and quality assured.
Attendees preferred the term “quality assured” rather than accredited, to ensure that employers maintain standards and produce good results.
The industry standards already in place should guide this criteria, as well as the standards mentioned earlier. There should be more consistency across borders to ensure that accreditation of one same provider is made equivalent between England and Scotland.
However, as mentioned earlier, Scotland and England are disconnected in terms of accreditation. In Scotland employers have to apply for funding in autumn, which clashes with their yearly plans. The current accreditation process in Scotland is working against its objectives, because employers find it easier to pay for apprenticeships themselves if SDS’ offering doesn’t fit.
The Scottish Government should examine the timelines used by SDS and synchronise them to suit employers’ needs.
6. Will the apprenticeship levy scheme beadministered by SDS?
The apprenticeship levy scheme should not be administered by SDS.
At national level, apprenticeships are already led by business and follow national standards. There may be merit in managing in some other way.
Specifically, there was a demand for a ‘training account’ to be set up which would allow clear visibility for companies (and government) on the use / accrual of funding.
7. Can existing accredited professionaltraining be covered by the levy? (e.g. Motor Trade, ECITB for engineering, CITB for construction)
Payments to the CITB, for example, should cover the relevant portion of the levy but only if it was proven that demand for apprenticeships could not meet the funding raised by the levy.
Cross-border application of the levy
Gaps in knowledge Ideas and suggestions
1. What system will the ScottishGovernment use to administer the Levy funds?
One proposal is to use the same system as England. This would make vouchers transferrable across borders, making funding and investment would be quite clear this way.
Another option is to make a similar system, but adapted to the Scottish framework and with a different name. Using HMRC’s data would be simple and allows employers to access their account.
This requires further analysis.
2. How can complexity be kept to aminimum for cross-border application of the levy?
As HMRC has already determined, employers’ “digital voucher” or “fund” contributions will depend on the residence of their employees.
Employers that operate across regional borders should then be able to draw on their total funds and spend them in whichever region they choose to provide training – this could use the training account method where Scottish companies could pay their digital voucher into that account. .
3. Is there an existing system whichcompanies in Scotland could use to view their Levy contributions and use their available funds?
Scotland previously had a system for the training levy, which was tallied by employers themselves. Each employer had an account, which may be preferable to vouchers that expire after 18 months.
The funds were recorded and reconciled by using PAYE, which was a simple system.
The Scottish Government should clarify and discuss various options for the levy system with employers.
4. If a new system will be created, whatfeatures would you like it to have?
Attendees wanted features that are common to any account system, such as:
- Direct access - Ability to view your balance - Clear expiry dates (if applicable) - Funding limits per employee (if applicable)
However, attendees seemed to agree that a new system was unnecessary (see previous answers).
5. Why is England so far advancedcompared to Scotland?
The Scottish election was one factor which understandably delayed Scottish Government thinking on the issue.
It is now vital that the Scottish Government take prompt action to catch up to the level of detail presented by the UK Government by engaging with businesses.
6. Will the collection of the levy in Scotlandbe integrated into the PAYE systems?
Attendees generally agreed that this should be done.
7. When will information be made availableon higher level apprentices, e.g. level 11?
SDS should have that information. However, one pilot is currently behind schedule, so the information is not being released.
Liz Cameron stated that she will be able to get an update on this at an upcoming Scottish Chambers’ council meeting.
Finally, attendees discussed whether the levy should be charged in Scotland at all. Scotland has the power to return any levy funds in effect by simply reimbursing payments to companies via a tax credit. This may be a more transparent use of money and ensure the cost to business is not ‘lost within Government / SDS’
Scotland is already meeting its skills targets and can acknowledge the good work being done by employers and the results of existing programmes.
Overall, it was agreed that prompt discussions with Scottish Government would be widely welcomed by businesses. They are keen to give their ideas to shape an employer-led approach to the apprenticeship levy that will meet the Scottish Government’s aims.
If you have further feedback, please contact the Chamber’s research and policy assistant Irina Bonavino at [email protected]
34
35
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.2
Full-Time Student Applications 2016-17
1. Introduction1.1. The purpose of this report is to provide the Committee with information on the level of
full-time student applications for the academic year 2016-17.
2. Background2.1. Prior to the beginning of the new academic year curriculum staff have been working to
finalise the range of full-time courses to be offered in 2016-17. This work is necessary to ensure that the College has appropriate resources in place and that students can apply in good time for the course they wish to undertake.
2.2. North East Scotland College operates an on-line application process for students wishing to apply for full-time courses. The application system opened in October 2015.
2.3. Detailed information on application levels against offers made and planned enrolments for the three Schools is given in Appendix 1 to this paper. At the time of its writing the College had received approximately 13,215 applications.
2.4. At this stage the total number of offers issued stands at 4,187. In addition, 2,685 applications are at full acceptance stage.
2.5. Appendix 2 provides a comparison of total applications received for 2015-16 and 2016-17.
2.6. Recruitment to the College’s full-time provision is not yet complete, with final enrolment numbers to be confirmed by end of September 2016.
2.7. The Scottish Funding Council has confirmed that the College’s target for 2016-17 is 137,153 credits [including 3,035 ESF credits].
2.8. As part of the Curriculum Planning process for 2016-17, the Directors of Curriculum and Head of Business and Community Development are projecting 137,325 of credit activity. A slight increase of 172 against the SFC target – Appendix 3.
3. Recommendation3.1. It is recommended that the Committee note the information provided in this paper.
Rob Wallen John DavidsonPrincipal Vice Principal – Learning & Quality
36
Ag
en
da
Item
6.2
A
pp
en
dix 1
Stud
en
t ap
plic
atio
ns to
be
pro
ce
ssed
for fu
ll-time
pro
gra
mm
es, a
ca
de
mic
yea
r 16-17 (as a
t 28 Jun
e 2016)
Se
cto
r Te
am
A
pp
lica
tion
s at
Ac
kno
wle
dg
em
en
t Sta
ge
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at In
tervie
w
Invita
tion
Sta
ge
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at In
tervie
w
Boo
ked
Sta
ge
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at
Co
nd
ition
al
Offe
r Stag
e
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at Fu
ll Offe
r Sta
ge
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at H
igh
D
em
an
d
Stag
e
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at A
cc
ep
t Sta
ge
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at
With
dra
wn
Sta
ge
Tota
l A
pp
lica
tion
s
CC
B CR
EATIV
E IN
DU
STRIES,
CO
MP
UTIN
G,
ESOL A
ND
BU
SINESS
ENTER
PRISE
TCA
AR
T, DESIG
N, TEX
TILES & P
HO
TOG
RA
PH
Y 12
35 26
95 88
4 171
193 625
TCC
AR
T, DESIG
N, FLO
RISTR
Y A
ND
TOU
RISM
2
3 1
22 8
0 13
26 75
TCD
MU
SIC, D
RA
MA
AN
D M
EDIA
31
21 11
237 16
26 124
287 753
TCE C
OM
PU
TING
AN
D ESO
L 14
14 6
15 48
0 23
53 173
TCF ESSEN
TIAL A
ND
CO
RE SKILLS
3 13
3 78
4 0
18 35
154
TCG
ESOL
27 36
30 136
10 0
148 229
616
TCH
BUSIN
ESS, ENTER
PR
ISE AN
D A
DM
INISTR
ATIO
N
18 125
32 307
25 0
149 263
919
TCJ A
CC
OU
NTIN
G A
ND
LAW
14
60 13
222 16
0 125
117 567
TCK TO
UR
ISM A
ND
EVEN
TS 28
47 11
182 20
0 62
123 473
TCL C
OM
PU
TING
AP
PLIC
ATIO
NS &
VISU
AL
CO
MM
UN
ICA
TION
10
46 10
132 35
0 102
110 445
TCM
CO
MP
UTIN
G N
ETWO
RKIN
G
23 37
22 191
9 0
80 109
471
TCN
BUSIN
ESS 15
29 6
84 10
0 26
60 230
Tota
l 197
466 171
1701 289
30 1041
1605 5501
EST EN
GIN
EERIN
G,
SCIEN
CE A
ND
TEC
HN
OLO
GY
TAA
ELECTR
ICA
L ENG
INEER
ING
29
36 20
99 18
0 62
74 339
TAC
SCIEN
CE
13 27
24 134
39 0
63 160
461
TAD
MEC
HA
NIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G
13 43
13 54
16 0
60 75
274
TAE M
ATH
S AN
D M
ECH
AN
ICA
L ENG
INEER
ING
TEC
HN
ICIA
NS
12 5
8 122
4 0
34 88
273
TAF C
ON
STRU
CTIO
N
7 18
4 25
9 25
56 111
255
TAG
AU
TOM
OTIV
E TECH
NO
LOG
IES 16
21 11
9 16
11 77
136 297
TAH
AU
TOM
OTIV
E ENG
INEER
ING
AN
D
CO
NSTR
UC
TION
10
31 16
7 13
0 66
69 212
TAJ M
ECH
AN
ICA
L ENG
INEER
ING
CR
AFT A
ND
W
ELDIN
G
15 19
5 24
32 0
91 73
259
TAK M
ECH
AN
ICA
L ENG
INEER
ING
TECH
NIC
IAN
AN
D
MA
THS
4 20
4 62
4 0
10 42
146
TAL ELEC
TRIC
AL, ELEC
TRO
NIC
AN
D M
EASU
REM
ENT
& C
ON
TRO
L 12
17 2
45 7
0 27
46 157
TAM
SCIEN
CE (FR
ASER
BUR
GH
) 2
0 0
0 0
0 7
0 9
Tota
l 133
237 107
581 158
36 553
874 2682
Sec
tor
Tea
m
Ap
plic
atio
ns a
t A
ckn
ow
led
ge
me
nt
Stag
e
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at In
tervie
w
Invita
tion
Sta
ge
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at In
tervie
w
Boo
ked
Sta
ge
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at
Co
nd
ition
al
Offe
r Stag
e
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at Fu
ll Offe
r Sta
ge
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at H
igh
D
em
an
d
Stag
e
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at A
cc
ep
t Sta
ge
Ap
plic
atio
ns
at
With
dra
wn
Sta
ge
Tota
l A
pp
lica
tion
s
SI SERV
ICE
IND
USTR
IES TD
A C
HILD
CA
RE, H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L C
AR
E 10
44 14
93 11
0 56
111 339
TDB C
HILD
CA
RE
17 61
14 112
20 0
88 98
410
TDC
HEA
LTH A
ND
SOC
IAL C
AR
E 19
162 72
249 36
0 183
353 1074
TDD
HA
IR, BEA
UTY
AN
D C
OM
PLEM
ENTA
RY
TH
ERA
PIES
4 39
26 69
4 0
20 72
234
TDE H
AIR
DR
ESSING
6
34 29
78 7
0 52
73 279
TDF BEA
UTY
AN
D C
OM
PLEM
ENTA
RY
TH
ERA
PIES
12 62
29 89
23 0
106 121
442
TDG
HO
SPITA
LITY 5
20 6
5 22
0 93
81 232
TDH
SPO
RT
33 80
40 237
19 0
96 158
663
TDJ H
OSP
ITALITY
, SPO
RT A
ND
H
OR
TICU
LTUR
E 4
25 6
28 15
0 52
85 215
TDL SO
CIA
L SCIEN
CES
23 116
46 126
135 0
211 183
841
TDM
SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES AN
D LEA
RN
ING
O
PPOR
TUN
ITIES 4
4 3
10 56
0 47
34 158
TDN
LEAR
NIN
G O
PP
OR
TUN
ITIES 7
1 0
1 13
0 87
27 136
To
tal
144 648
285 1097
361 0
1091 1396
5023
Tota
l
483 1351
563 3379
808 66
2685 3875
13215
Ag
en
da
Item
6.2 A
pp
en
dix 2
Ap
plic
atio
ns rec
eive
d b
etw
ee
n 01/10/2014 and
28/06/2015 or Be
twe
en 01/10/2015 a
nd 28/06/2016
2015 2016
Sc
ho
ol
Tea
m
Co
urse
Re
f C
ou
rse Title
To
tal A
pp
lica
tion
s re
ce
ived
To
tal A
pp
lica
tion
s re
ce
ived
V
aria
nc
e
CC
B CR
EATIV
E IN
DU
STRIES,
CO
MP
UTIN
G,
ESOL A
ND
BU
SINESS
ENTER
PRISE
TCA
AR
T, DESIG
N,
TEXTILES &
PH
OTO
GR
APH
Y
CA
DD
-2 H
ND
AR
T AN
D D
ESIGN
(YEAR
1) 84
87 3
CA
DD
-Y2 H
ND
AR
T AN
D D
ESIGN
(YEAR
2) 35
33 -2
CA
DP-2
HN
D PH
OTO
GR
APH
Y (YEAR
1) 93
108 15
CA
DP-Y2
HN
D PH
OTO
GR
APH
Y (YEAR
2) 56
59 3
CA
DS-2
HN
D TEX
TILES (YEAR
1) 49
39 -10
CA
DS-Y2
HN
D TEX
TILES (YEAR
2) 15
23 8
CA
OA
D-1
NC
IN A
RT A
ND
DESIG
N SC
QF LEV
EL 6 73
61 -12
CA
OD
M-1
NC
IN FA
SHIO
N D
ESIGN
AN
D M
AN
UFA
CTU
RE SC
QF
LEVEL 6
35 44
9
CA
OP
G-1
NC
IN PH
OTO
GR
APH
Y SCQ
F LEVEL 6
77 98
21
C
AO
PR
-1 A
RT A
ND
DESIG
N
53 0
-53 A
RT A
ND
DESIG
N SC
QF LEV
EL 4/5 0
72 72
Te
am
Tota
l: 570
624 54
TCC
AR
T, DESIG
N,
FLOR
ISTRY
AN
D
TOU
RISM
CC
CA
-1 H
NC
AR
T AN
D D
ESIGN
17
17 0
CC
GF-1
CITY
AN
D G
UILD
S LEVEL 2 D
IPLO
MA
IN FLO
RISTR
Y 0
20 20
CC
GF-2
CITY
AN
D G
UILD
S LEVEL 2 D
IPLO
MA
IN FLO
RISTR
Y
(YEAR
1) 20
0 -20
CC
GF-Y2
CITY
AN
D G
UILD
S LEVEL 2 D
IPLO
MA
IN FLO
RISTR
Y
(YEAR
2) 9
13 4
CC
OA
D-1
NC
IN A
RT A
ND
DESIG
N SC
QF LEV
EL 6 17
13 -4
CC
OP
R-1
AR
T AN
D D
ESIGN
18
0 -18
AR
T AN
D D
ESIGN
SCQ
F LEVEL 4/5
0 12
12
Tea
m To
tal:
81 75
-6 TC
D M
USIC
, D
RA
MA
AN
D
MED
IA
CD
CC
-1 H
NC
CR
EATIV
E IND
USTR
IES: RA
DIO
14
0 -14
CD
CM
-1 H
NC
MED
IA A
NA
LYSIS AN
D PR
OD
UC
TION
0
26 26
CD
DC
-2 H
ND
AC
TING
AN
D PER
FOR
MA
NC
E (YEAR
1) 65
89 24
CD
DC
-Y2 H
ND
AC
TING
AN
D PER
FOR
MA
NC
E (YEAR
2) 32
34 2
CD
DH
-2 H
ND
CR
EATIV
E IND
USTR
IES: TV (YEA
R 1)
58 66
8
C
DD
H-Y2
HN
D C
REA
TIVE IN
DU
STRIES: TV
(YEAR
2) 33
43 10
CD
DM
-2 H
ND
MU
SIC (YEA
R 1)
78 80
2
C
DD
M-Y2
HN
D M
USIC
(YEAR
2) 47
44 -3
CD
DP-2
HN
D SO
UN
D PR
OD
UC
TION
(YEAR
1) 45
63 18
CD
DP-Y2
HN
D SO
UN
D PR
OD
UC
TION
(YEAR
2) 22
23 1
CD
HM
S-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
MU
SIC
0 79
79 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
MU
SIC STU
DIES
61 0
-61
C
DH
MS-F1A
IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
MU
SIC - FT 2016/17 YR
1 GP A
0
1 1
CD
OA
T-1 N
C IN
AC
TING
AN
D TH
EATR
E PERFO
RM
AN
CE SC
QF
LEVEL 6
56 68
12
CD
OC
M-1
CR
EATIV
E MED
IA
60 60
0
C
DO
M-1
NC
IN M
USIC
SCQ
F LEVEL 6
63 76
13
Tea
m To
tal:
634 752
118 TC
E CO
MP
UTIN
G
AN
D ESO
L C
ECC
-1 H
NC
CO
MPU
TING
23
26 3
CEG
DD
-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
IT AN
D C
YBER SEC
UR
ITY
0 19
19 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
IT AN
D D
IGITA
L MED
IA
13 0
-13
C
EGTC
-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
CO
MPU
TING
SUPPO
RT
8 0
-8
C
ELF-1 EN
GLISH
FOR
SPEAKER
S OF O
THER
LAN
GU
AG
ES (ESO
L) 184
101 -83
CEO
DM
-1 N
C IN
CO
MPU
TING
WITH
DIG
ITAL M
EDIA
SCQ
F LEV
EL 5/6 26
27 1
Te
am
Tota
l: 254
173 -81
TCF ESSEN
TIAL
AN
D C
OR
E SKILLS C
FDP-2
HN
D A
DV
ERTISIN
G &
PUBLIC
RELA
TION
S (YEAR
1) 50
49 -1
CFD
P-Y2 H
ND
AD
VER
TISING
& PU
BLIC R
ELATIO
NS (YEA
R 2)
25 27
2
C
FDT-2
HN
D C
REA
TIVE IN
DU
STRIES M
EDIA
AN
D
CO
MM
UN
ICA
TION
(YEA
R 1)
51 53
2
CFD
T-Y2 H
ND
CR
EATIV
E IND
USTR
IES MED
IA A
ND
C
OM
MU
NIC
ATIO
N (Y
EAR
2) 28
25 -3
Te
am
Tota
l: 154
154 0
TCG
ESOL
CG
LF-1 EN
GLISH
FOR
SPEAKER
S OF O
THER
LAN
GU
AG
ES (ESO
L) 499
615 116
Te
am
Tota
l: 499
615 116
TCH
BUSIN
ESS, EN
TERPR
ISE AN
D
AD
MIN
ISTRA
TION
CH
CB-1
HN
C BU
SINESS
71 103
32
C
HC
I-2 H
NC
AD
MIN
ISTRA
TION
AN
D IN
FOR
MA
TION
TEC
HN
OLO
GY
84 80
-4
CH
DA
-2 H
ND
AD
MIN
ISTRA
TION
AN
D IN
FOR
MA
TION
TEC
HN
OLO
GY
(YEA
R 1)
48 36
-12
CH
DA
-Y2 H
ND
AD
MIN
ISTRA
TION
AN
D IN
FOR
MA
TION
TEC
HN
OLO
GY
(YEA
R 2)
72 63
-9
CH
DB-2
HN
D BU
SINESS
119 0
-119 H
ND
BUSIN
ESS (YEAR
1) 0
165 165
CH
DB-Y2
HN
D BU
SINESS (YEA
R 2)
10 100
90
C
HO
AD
-1 N
CG
A A
DM
INISTR
ATIO
N SC
QF LEV
EL 5 70
80 10
CH
OBN
-1 N
CG
A BU
SINESS W
ITH ESO
L SCQ
F LEVEL 4
37 39
2
C
HO
S-1 N
CG
A BU
SINESS SC
QF LEV
EL 5 96
148 52
CH
OT-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO BU
SINESS A
ND
AD
MIN
ISTRA
TION
111
97 -14
CH
OT-F1A
IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
BUSIN
ESS AN
D A
DM
INISTR
ATIO
N
- FT 2016/17 YR
1 GP
A
0 1
1
Te
am
Tota
l: 718
912 194
TCJ A
CC
OU
NTIN
G
AN
D LA
W
CJC
A-2
HN
C A
CC
OU
NTIN
G
70 86
16
C
JCA
-F1A
HN
C A
CC
OU
NTIN
G - FT 2016/17 Y
R 1 G
P A
0
1 1
CJD
A-2
HN
D A
CC
OU
NTIN
G (YEA
R 1)
126 93
-33
C
JDA
-F1A
HN
D A
CC
OU
NTIN
G - FT 2016/17 Y
R 1 G
P A
0 1
1
C
JDA
-Y2 H
ND
AC
CO
UN
TING
(YEAR
2) 82
105 23
CJD
L-2 H
ND
LEGA
L SERV
ICES (YEA
R 1)
137 183
46
CJD
L-Y2 H
ND
LEGA
L SERV
ICES (YEA
R 2)
77 97
20
Tea
m To
tal:
492 566
74 TC
K TOU
RISM
AN
D
EVEN
TS C
KCE-1
HN
C EV
ENTS M
AN
AG
EMEN
T 31
2 -29
CKC
T-1 H
NC
TRA
VEL &
TOU
RISM
31
0 -31
CKD
E-2 H
ND
EVEN
TS MA
NA
GEM
ENT (YEA
R 1)
64 90
26
C
KDE-Y2
HN
D EV
ENTS M
AN
AG
EMEN
T (YEAR
2) 54
48 -6
CKD
T-2 H
ND
TRA
VEL A
ND
TOU
RISM
(YEA
R 1)
73 111
38
C
KDT-Y2
HN
D TR
AV
EL AN
D TO
UR
ISM (YEA
R 2)
29 55
26
C
KOTL-1
NC
IN TR
AV
EL AN
D TO
UR
ISM W
ITH ESO
L SCQ
F LEV
EL 5 53
44 -9
CKO
TT-1 N
C IN
TRA
VEL A
ND
TOU
RISM
SCQ
F LEVEL 5
82 122
40
Tea
m To
tal:
417 472
55 TC
L CO
MP
UTIN
G
APPLIC
ATIO
NS &
V
ISUA
L C
OM
MU
NIC
ATIO
N
CLC
A-1
HN
C 3D
CO
MPU
TER A
NIM
ATIO
N
51 46
-5
C
LDA
-2 H
ND
VISU
AL C
OM
MU
NIC
ATIO
N (YEA
R 1)
73 87
14
C
LDA
-Y2 H
ND
VISU
AL C
OM
MU
NIC
ATIO
N (YEA
R 2)
51 40
-11
C
LDE-Y2
HN
D 3D
CO
MPU
TER A
NIM
ATIO
N (YEA
R 2)
0 19
19
C
LDM
-2 H
ND
INTER
AC
TIVE M
EDIA
(WEB D
EVELO
PMEN
T) (YEA
R 1)
36 29
-7
CLD
M-Y2
HN
D IN
TERA
CTIV
E MED
IA (W
EB DEV
ELOPM
ENT)
(YEAR
2) 24
21 -3
CLG
DD
-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
IT AN
D C
YBER SEC
UR
ITY
0 27
27 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
IT AN
D D
IGITA
L MED
IA
34 0
-34
C
LOD
M-1
NC
IN C
OM
PUTIN
G W
ITH D
IGITA
L MED
IA SC
QF
LEVEL 5/6
103 100
-3
CLO
PD
-1 N
C IN
CO
MPU
TER A
RTS A
ND
AN
IMA
TION
SCQ
F LEV
EL 6 46
73 27
CLO
TC-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO IT A
ND
CYBER
SECU
RITY (IN
C C
&
G A
WA
RD
) 20
0 -20
Te
am
Tota
l: 438
442 4
TCM
CO
MP
UTIN
G
NETW
OR
KING
C
MC
C-2
HN
C C
OM
PUTIN
G
67 99
32
C
MD
D-2
HN
D C
OM
PUTIN
G: SO
FTWA
RE D
EVELO
PMEN
T (YEA
R 1)
63 69
6
CM
DD
-Y2 H
ND
CO
MPU
TING
: SOFTW
AR
E DEV
ELOPM
ENT
(YEAR
2) 59
72 13
CM
DN
-2 H
ND
CO
MPU
TING
: NETW
OR
KING
(YEAR
1) 29
43 14
CM
DN
-Y2 H
ND
CO
MPU
TING
: NETW
OR
KING
(YEAR
2) 40
27 -13
CM
GTC
-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
CO
MPU
TING
SUPPO
RT
49 80
31
C
MO
TT-1 N
C C
OM
PUTIN
G TEC
HN
ICA
L SUPPO
RT SC
QF LEV
EL 5/6
51 0
-51
NC
CO
MPU
TING
TECH
NIC
AL SU
PPOR
T WITH
CYBER
SEC
UR
ITY SCQ
F LEVEL 5/6
0 81
81
Te
am
Tota
l: 358
471 113
TCN
BUSIN
ESS C
NC
A-1
HN
C A
DM
INISTR
ATIO
N A
ND
INFO
RM
ATIO
N
TECH
NO
LOG
Y 32
17 -15
CN
CB-1
HN
C BU
SINESS
15 9
-6
C
NC
N-1
HN
C A
CC
OU
NTIN
G
15 9
-6
C
ND
A-2
HN
D A
CC
OU
NTIN
G (YEA
R 1)
12 17
5
C
ND
A-Y2
HN
D A
CC
OU
NTIN
G (YEA
R 2)
16 16
0
C
ND
B-2 H
ND
BUSIN
ESS 17
0 -17
HN
D BU
SINESS (YEA
R 1)
0 19
19
C
ND
B-Y2 H
ND
BUSIN
ESS (YEAR
2) 16
20 4
CN
DT-2
HN
D A
DM
INISTR
ATIO
N A
ND
INFO
RM
ATIO
N
TECH
NO
LOG
Y (Y
EAR
1) 8
11 3
CN
DT-Y2
HN
D A
DM
INISTR
ATIO
N A
ND
INFO
RM
ATIO
N
TECH
NO
LOG
Y (Y
EAR
2) 5
0 -5
CN
OA
-1 N
CG
A A
DM
INISTR
ATIO
N SC
QF LEV
EL 5 39
34 -5
CN
OA
T-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
BUSIN
ESS AN
D A
DM
INISTR
ATIO
N
4 5
1
CN
OS-1
NC
GA
BUSIN
ESS SCQ
F LEVEL 5
26 19
-7
CN
OT-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO BU
SINESS A
ND
AD
MIN
ISTRA
TION
37
31 -6
CN
OTT-1
NC
IN TR
AV
EL AN
D TO
UR
ISM SC
QF LEV
EL 5 11
21 10
CN
SR-1
SVQ
AD
MIN
ISTRA
TION
4
0 -4
CN
SS-1 SV
Q A
DM
INISTR
ATIO
N
4 0
-4
Tea
m To
tal:
261 228
-33
Sc
ho
ol To
tal:
4876 5484
608 EST EN
GIN
EERIN
G,
SCIEN
CE A
ND
TEC
HN
OLO
GY
TAA
ELECTR
ICA
L EN
GIN
EERIN
G
AA
DT-2
HN
D ELEC
TRIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G (YEA
R 1)
67 71
4
A
AD
T-Y2 H
ND
ELECTR
ICA
L ENG
INEER
ING
(YEAR
2) 35
48 13
AA
OR
-1 N
C IN
ELECTR
ICA
L SCQ
F LEVEL 5
90 81
-9
A
AO
T-1 N
C IN
ELECTR
ICA
L SCQ
F LEVEL 6
68 68
0
A
ASP-1
SVQ
PERFO
RM
ING
ENG
INEER
ING
OPS LEV
EL 2 (ELEC
TRIC
AL O
PTION
) 55
71 16
Te
am
Tota
l: 315
339 24
TAC
SCIEN
CE
AC
CA
P-2 H
NC
APPLIED
SCIEN
CES
63 88
25
A
CD
AP-2
HN
D A
PPLIED SC
IENC
ES (YEAR
1) 85
79 -6
AC
DA
P-Y2 H
ND
APPLIED
SCIEN
CES (YEA
R 2)
50 59
9
A
CH
S-1 R
OU
TES TO H
IGH
ER ED
UC
ATIO
N (SC
IENC
E) 94
83 -11
AC
OA
-1 N
C IN
APPLIED
SCIEN
CES SC
QF LEV
EL 5 65
71 6
AC
OS-1
NC
IN A
PPLIED SC
IENC
ES SCQ
F LEVEL 6
81 77
-4
Tea
m To
tal:
438 457
19 TA
D M
ECH
AN
ICA
L EN
GIN
EERIN
G
AD
OM
E-1 N
C IN
MEC
HA
NIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G SC
QF LEV
EL 6 212
184 -28
AD
SME-1
N/SV
Q 2 M
ECH
AN
ICA
L ENG
INEER
ING
MO
DER
N
APPR
ENTIC
ESHIP
4 0
-4
AD
SR-1
SVQ
PERFO
RM
ING
ENG
INEER
ING
OPS LEV
EL 2 (M
ECH
AN
ICA
L) 159
89 -70
Te
am
Tota
l: 375
273 -102
TAE M
ATH
S AN
D
MEC
HA
NIC
AL
ENG
INEER
ING
TEC
HN
ICIA
NS
AED
E-2 H
ND
MEC
HA
NIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G (YEA
R 1)
271 185
-86
A
EDE-Y2
HN
D M
ECH
AN
ICA
L ENG
INEER
ING
(YEAR
2) 71
87 16
Te
am
Tota
l: 342
272 -70
TAF
CO
NSTR
UC
TION
A
FCB-2
HN
C BU
ILT ENV
IRO
NM
ENT
18 50
32
A
FOBN
-1 N
C BU
ILT ENV
IRO
NM
ENT
27 41
14
A
FOC
A-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO C
ON
STRU
CTIO
N (C
RA
FTS) 9
0 -9
AFO
G-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO C
ON
STRU
CTIO
N (C
RA
FTS) 104
162 58
Te
am
Tota
l: 158
253 95
TAG
AU
TOM
OTIV
E TEC
HN
OLO
GIES
AG
GD
-1 D
IPLOM
A IN
AC
CID
ENT R
EPAIR
(BOD
Y) LEVEL 1
(SCQ
F LEVEL 4)
44 0
-44
AG
GS-1
CER
TIFICA
TE/DIP
LOM
A IN
VEH
ICLE M
AIN
TENA
NC
E SC
QF LEV
EL 4 102
0 -102
AG
GT-1
DIPLO
MA
IN V
EHIC
LE MA
INTEN
AN
CE &
REPA
IR
SCQ
F LEVEL 5
69 0
-69
AG
QD
-1 D
IPLOM
A IN
AC
CID
ENT R
EPAIR
(BOD
Y) LEVEL 1
(SCQ
F LEVEL 4)
0 70
70
AG
QM
-1 D
IPLOM
A IN
LIGH
T VEH
ICLE M
AIN
TENA
NC
E AN
D
REPA
IR PR
INC
IPLES SCQ
F LEVEL 7
0 8
8
AG
QS-1
CER
TIFICA
TE/DIP
LOM
A IN
VEH
ICLE M
AIN
TENA
NC
E SC
QF LEV
EL 4 0
145 145
AG
QT-1
DIPLO
MA
IN V
EHIC
LE MA
INTEN
AN
CE &
REPA
IR
SCQ
F LEVEL 5
0 74
74
Te
am
Tota
l: 215
297 82
TAH
AU
TOM
OTIV
E EN
GIN
EERIN
G
AN
D
CO
NSTR
UC
TION
AH
GS-1
CER
TIFICA
TE/DIP
LOM
A IN
VEH
ICLE M
AIN
TENA
NC
E SC
QF LEV
EL 4 48
0 -48
AH
GT-1
DIPLO
MA
IN V
EHIC
LE MA
INTEN
AN
CE &
REPA
IR
SCQ
F LEVEL 5
17 0
-17
AH
MC
-1 N
PA G
ENER
AL BU
ILDIN
G
42 61
19
A
HO
BN-1
NC
BUILT EN
VIR
ON
MEN
T 9
11 2
AH
OF-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO C
ON
STRU
CTIO
N (C
RA
FTS) 31
51 20
AH
QS-1
CER
TIFICA
TE/DIP
LOM
A IN
VEH
ICLE M
AIN
TENA
NC
E SC
QF LEV
EL 4 0
64 64
AH
QT-1
DIPLO
MA
IN V
EHIC
LE MA
INTEN
AN
CE &
REPA
IR
SCQ
F LEVEL 5
0 24
24
Te
am
Tota
l: 147
211 64
TAJ M
ECH
AN
ICA
L EN
GIN
EERIN
G
CR
AFT A
ND
W
ELDIN
G
AJC
M-1
HN
C EN
GIN
EERIN
G PR
AC
TICE
16 27
11
A
JOM
-1 N
C M
AN
UFA
CTU
RE A
ND
MEC
HA
NIC
AL
MA
INTEN
AN
CE LEV
EL 5 0
38 38
NC
MA
NU
FAC
TUR
ING
ENG
INEER
ING
LEVEL 5
29 0
-29
A
JOW
-1 N
C FA
BRIC
ATIO
N A
ND
WELD
ING
93
73 -20
AJSM
-1 M
AIN
TENA
NC
E ENG
INEER
ING
9
0 -9
SVQ
PERFO
RM
ING
ENG
INEER
ING
OPS:
MEC
HA
NIC
AL (M
AIN
TENA
NC
E) LEVEL 2
0 24
24
AJSP-1
SVQ
PERFO
RM
ING
ENG
INEER
ING
OPS:
MEC
HA
NIC
AL LEV
EL 2 110
40 -70
AJSW
-1 SV
Q PER
FOR
MIN
G EN
GIN
EERIN
G O
PS LEVEL 2
(FABR
ICA
TION
AN
D W
ELDIN
G)
0 56
56
SVQ
PERFO
RM
ING
ENG
INEER
ING
OPS LEV
EL 2 (W
ELDIN
G A
ND
FABR
ICA
TION
) 54
0 -54
Te
am
Tota
l: 311
258 -53
TAK M
ECH
AN
ICA
L EN
GIN
EERIN
G
TECH
NIC
IAN
AN
D
MA
THS
AKD
E-2 H
ND
MEC
HA
NIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G
52 0
-52 H
ND
MEC
HA
NIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G (YEA
R 1)
0 47
47
A
KDE-F2A
H
ND
MEC
HA
NIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G - FT 2016/17 Y
R 2
GP A
0
1 1
AKD
E-Y2 H
ND
MEC
HA
NIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G (YEA
R 2)
23 20
-3
A
KOE-1
NC
MEC
HA
NC
IAL EN
GIN
EERIN
G SC
QF LEV
EL 6 83
78 -5
Te
am
Tota
l: 158
146 -12
TAL ELEC
TRIC
AL,
ELECTR
ON
IC A
ND
M
EASU
REM
ENT &
C
ON
TRO
L
ALC
C-1
HN
C ELEC
TRO
NIC
S 12
7 -5
ALC
M-1
HN
C M
EASU
REM
ENT A
ND
CO
NTR
OL
10 10
0
A
LDE-2
HN
D ELEC
TRIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G
20 0
-20 H
ND
ELECTR
ICA
L ENG
INEER
ING
(YEAR
1) 0
24 24
ALD
E-Y2 H
ND
ELECTR
ICA
L ENG
INEER
ING
5
0 -5
ALD
L-2 H
ND
ELECTR
ON
ICS
5 0
-5 H
ND
ELECTR
ON
ICS (YEA
R 1)
0 1
1
A
LDL-Y2
HN
D ELEC
TRO
NIC
S 2
0 -2
HN
D ELEC
TRO
NIC
S (YEAR
2) 0
4 4
ALO
E-1 N
C ELEC
TRIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G SC
QF LEV
EL 5 54
36 -18
ALO
L-1 N
C ELEC
TRO
NIC
ENG
INEER
ING
LEVEL 6
14 7
-7
A
LOM
-1 N
C M
EASU
REM
ENT A
ND
CO
NTR
OL SC
QF LEV
EL 6 5
14 9
ALO
T-1 N
C ELEC
TRIC
AL EN
GIN
EERIN
G SC
QF LEV
EL 6 41
27 -14
ALSR
-1 SV
Q PER
FOR
MIN
G EN
GIN
EERIN
G O
PS: ELECTR
ICA
L LEV
EL 2 25
27 2
Te
am
Tota
l: 193
157 -36
TAM
SCIEN
CE
(FRA
SERBU
RG
H)
AM
OA
-1 N
C IN
APPLIED
SCIEN
CES SC
QF LEV
EL 5 0
9 9
Te
am
Tota
l: 0
9 9
Scho
ol To
tal:
2652 2672
20 SI SER
VIC
E IN
DU
STRIES
TDA
CH
ILDC
AR
E, H
EALTH
AN
D
SOC
IAL C
AR
E
DA
MC
C-1
CH
ILD, H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE SC
QF LEV
EL 4 6
0 -6
DA
MC
H-1
NC
IN H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE (H
EALTH
CA
RE
RO
UTE) SC
QF LEV
EL 6 0
42 42
NC
IN H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE (N
UR
SING
R
OU
TE) SCQ
F LEVEL 6
28 0
-28
DA
OC
A-1
NC
IN C
HILD
, HEA
LTH A
ND
SOC
IAL C
AR
E (SOC
IAL
CA
RE R
OU
TE) SCQ
F LEVEL 5
0 36
36
DA
OC
C-1
NC
IN H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE (SO
CIA
L CA
RE
RO
UTE) SC
QF LEV
EL 6 0
20 20
DA
OC
D-1
CH
ILDC
AR
E AN
D D
EVELO
PM
ENT SC
QF LEV
EL 5 42
58 16
DA
OC
D-F1A
C
HILD
CA
RE A
ND
DEV
ELOP
MEN
T SCQ
F LEVEL 5 - FT
2016/17 YR 1 G
P A
0 1
1
DA
OC
I-1 FIR
ST STEPS IN
TO C
AR
E 20
0 -20
DA
OC
R-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO C
HILD
CA
RE SC
QF LEV
EL 4 37
45 8
DA
OC
S-1 N
C C
HILD
, HEA
LTH A
ND
SOC
IAL C
AR
E (H
EALTH
CA
RE R
OU
TE) SCQ
F LEVEL 5
0 45
45
NC
CH
ILD, H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE (N
UR
SING
R
OU
TE) SCQ
F LEVEL 5
52 0
-52
DA
OEE-1
NC
EAR
LY EDU
CA
TION
AN
D C
HILD
CA
RE
37 40
3
D
AO
HS-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE
SCQ
F LEVEL 4
30 52
22
Te
am
Tota
l: 252
339 87
TDB C
HILD
CA
RE
DBC
C-1
HN
C C
HILD
HO
OD
PRA
CTIC
E 0
122 122
HN
C EA
RLY ED
UC
ATIO
N A
ND
CH
ILDC
AR
E 112
0 -112
DBO
A-1
PDA
IN ED
UC
ATIO
N SU
PPOR
T ASSISTA
NC
E SCQ
F LEV
EL 6 16
0 -16
DBO
CD
-1 C
HILD
CA
RE A
ND
DEV
ELOP
MEN
T SCQ
F LEVEL 5
67 99
32
D
BOC
H-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO C
HILD
CA
RE SC
QF LEV
EL 4 68
90 22
DBO
E-1 N
C IN
EAR
LY EDU
CA
TION
AN
D C
HILD
CA
RE SC
QF
LEVEL 6
102 98
-4
DBO
WC
-1 N
C IN
WO
RKIN
G W
ITH C
OM
MU
NITIES SC
QF LEV
EL 6 7
0 -7
Te
am
Tota
l: 372
409 37
TDC
HEA
LTH A
ND
SO
CIA
L CA
RE
DC
CA
-1 H
NC
CA
RE A
ND
AD
MIN
ISTRA
TIVE PR
AC
TICE
144 215
71
D
CC
P-1
HN
C C
AR
E AN
D A
DM
INISTR
ATIV
E PRA
CTIC
E (D
EGR
EE LINK R
OU
TE) 0
42 42
DC
CV
-1 H
NC
SOC
IAL SER
VIC
ES 82
114 32
DC
OC
-1 N
C IN
CH
ILD, H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE (SO
CIA
L C
AR
E RO
UTE) SC
QF LEV
EL 5 83
115 32
DC
OC
I-1 FIR
ST STEPS IN
TO C
AR
E 52
0 -52
DC
OH
-1 N
C IN
HEA
LTH A
ND
SOC
IAL C
AR
E (SOC
IAL C
AR
E R
OU
TE) SCQ
F LEVEL 6
48 67
19
DC
OH
N-1
NC
IN H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE (H
EALTH
CA
RE
RO
UTE) SC
QF LEV
EL 6 0
222 222
NC
IN H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE (N
UR
SING
R
OU
TE) SCQ
F LEVEL 6
254 0
-254
DC
OH
S-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
HEA
LTH A
ND
SOC
IAL C
AR
E SC
QF LEV
EL 4 85
128 43
DC
OLN
-1 N
C IN
CH
ILD, H
EALTH
AN
D SO
CIA
L CA
RE
(HEA
LTHC
AR
E RO
UTE) SC
QF LEV
EL 5 0
170 170
NC
IN C
HILD
, HEA
LTH A
ND
SOC
IAL C
AR
E (NU
RSIN
G
RO
UTE) SC
QF LEV
EL 5 204
0 -204
Te
am
Tota
l: 952
1073 121
TDD
HA
IR, BEA
UTY
A
ND
C
OM
PLEM
ENTA
RY
TH
ERA
PIES
DD
GH
B-1 V
RQ
LEVEL 1 D
IPLOM
A IN
AN
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO
THE H
AIR
AN
D BEA
UTY
SECTO
R (FA
ST TRA
CK)
18 0
-18
DD
QB1-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 1 DIPLO
MA
IN A
N IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
TH
E HA
IR A
ND
BEAU
TY SEC
TOR
(BEAU
TY R
OU
TE) 51
50 -1
DD
QB2-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 2 DIPLO
MA
IN BEA
UTY TH
ERA
PY 39
28 -11
DD
QB3-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 3 DIPLO
MA
IN BEA
UTY TH
ERA
PY TEC
HN
IQU
ES 16
27 11
DD
QBF-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 2 DIPLO
MA
IN BEA
UTY TH
ERA
PY
4 7
3
D
DQ
CF-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 3 DIPLO
MA
IN C
OM
PLEMEN
TAR
Y TH
ERA
PIES
10 5
-5
DD
QH
-1 V
RQ
LEVEL 1 D
IPLOM
A IN
AN
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO
THE H
AIR
AN
D BEA
UTY
SECTO
R (H
AIR
RO
UTE)
43 51
8
DD
QH
2-1 V
RQ
LEVEL 2 D
IPLOM
A IN
HA
IRD
RESSIN
G
48 47
-1
D
DQ
H2-F1A
V
RQ
LEVEL 2 D
IPLOM
A IN
HA
IRD
RESSIN
G - FT
2016/17 YR 1 G
P A
0 1
1
DD
QH
3-1 V
RQ
LEVEL 3 D
IPLOM
A IN
HA
IRD
RESSIN
G
13 14
1
D
DQ
LM-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 2 DIPLO
MA
IN C
OM
PLEMEN
TAR
Y TH
ERA
PIES
6 4
-2
Te
am
Tota
l: 248
234 -14
TDE
HA
IRD
RESSIN
G
DEG
HB-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 1 DIPLO
MA
IN A
N IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
TH
E HA
IR A
ND
BEAU
TY SEC
TOR
: HA
IR R
OU
TE (FAST
TRA
CK)
47 0
-47
DEG
IH-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 1 DIPLO
MA
IN A
N IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
TH
E HA
IR A
ND
BEAU
TY SEC
TOR
(HA
IR R
OU
TE) 123
146 23
DEQ
H-2
SVQ
HA
IRD
RESSIN
G LEV
EL 2 1
3 2
DEQ
HD
-1 V
RQ
LEVEL 2 D
IPLOM
A IN
HA
IRD
RESSIN
G
83 94
11
D
EQH
S-1 V
RQ
LEVEL 3 D
IPLOM
A IN
HA
IRD
RESSIN
G
33 34
1
Tea
m To
tal:
287 277
-10 TD
F BEAU
TY A
ND
C
OM
PLEM
ENTA
RY
TH
ERA
PIES
DFG
BA-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 1 DIPLO
MA
IN A
N IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
TH
E HA
IR A
ND
BEAU
TY SEC
TOR
(BEAU
TY R
OU
TE) 124
198 74
DFQ
BA-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 2 DIPLO
MA
IN BEA
UTY TH
ERA
PY
113 129
16
D
FQBM
-1 V
RQ
LEVEL 3 D
IPLOM
A IN
BOD
Y AN
D SPA
THER
APY
47 62
15
DFQ
CR
-1 V
RQ
LEVEL 3 D
IPLOM
A IN
CO
MPLEM
ENTA
RY
THER
AP
IES 20
29 9
DFQ
LM-1
VR
Q LEV
EL 2 DIPLO
MA
IN C
OM
PLEMEN
TAR
Y TH
ERA
PIES
13 24
11
Te
am
Tota
l: 317
442 125
TDG
HO
SPITA
LITY D
GQ
P3-1 PR
OFESSIO
NA
L CO
OKER
Y
61 67
6
D
GQ
P3-F1A
PRO
FESSION
AL C
OO
KERY FT 2016/17 YR
1 GP A
0
1 1
DG
QPC
-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
PRO
FESSION
AL C
OO
KERY
103 137
34
D
GQ
PV-1
AD
VA
NC
ED PR
OFESSIO
NA
L CO
OKER
Y
42 27
-15
Tea
m To
tal:
206 232
26 TD
H SP
OR
T D
HD
F-2 H
ND
FITNESS, H
EALTH
& EX
ERC
ISE (YEAR
1) 105
157 52
DH
DF-F1A
H
ND
FITNESS, H
EALTH
& EX
ERC
ISE - FT 2016/17 YR
1 G
P A
0 1
1
DH
DF-Y2
HN
D FITN
ESS, HEA
LTH &
EXER
CISE (YEA
R 2)
40 52
12
D
HD
S-2 H
ND
CO
AC
HIN
G A
ND
DEV
ELOPIN
G SPO
RT (YEA
R
1) 105
114 9
DH
DS-Y2
HN
D C
OA
CH
ING
AN
D D
EVELO
PING
SPOR
T (YEAR
2)
39 51
12
DH
OL-1
INTR
OD
UC
TION
TO SPO
RT, LEISU
RE A
ND
FITNESS
65 126
61
D
HO
S-1 N
C IN
SPOR
T AN
D FITN
ESS SCQ
F LEVEL 5
94 161
67
Tea
m To
tal:
448 662
214 TD
J HO
SPITA
LITY,
SPOR
T AN
D
HO
RTIC
ULTU
RE
DJG
HS-1
CITY
AN
D G
UILD
S SVQ
LEVEL 3 H
OSP
ITALITY
SU
PERV
ISION
7247-30 4
0 -4
DJN
PS-1 BTEC
DIPLO
MA
IN PU
BLIC SER
VIC
ES (LEVEL 1-2)
0 55
55
D
JNPT-1
BTEC D
IPLOM
A IN
PUBLIC
SERV
ICES (LEV
EL 3) 0
14 14
DJN
UF-1
LEVEL 1 C
ERTIFIC
ATE FO
R EN
TRY
TO U
NIFO
RM
ED
SERV
ICES
43 0
-43
DJN
US-1
LEVEL 2 C
ERTIFIC
ATE FO
R EN
TRY
TO U
NIFO
RM
ED
SERV
ICES
28 0
-28
DJO
L-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
SPOR
T, LEISUR
E AN
D FITN
ESS 18
26 8
DJO
S-1 N
C IN
SPOR
T AN
D FITN
ESS SCQ
F LEVEL 5
22 30
8
D
JQP1-1
CITY A
ND
GU
ILDS LEV
EL 1 FOO
D PR
EPAR
ATIO
N
AN
D C
OO
KING
0
47 47
CITY
AN
D G
UILD
S LEVEL 1 FO
OD
PR
EPA
RA
TION
A
ND
CO
OKIN
G 7140
53 0
-53
DJQ
P2-1 C
ITY A
ND
GU
ILDS SV
Q LEV
EL 2 PR
OFESSIO
NA
L C
OO
KERY
0 38
38
CITY
AN
D G
UILD
S SVQ
LEVEL 2 P
RO
FESSION
AL
CO
OKER
Y FLEX
IBLE 7140 30
0 -30
DJQ
P3-1 C
ITY A
ND
GU
ILDS LEV
EL 3 PR
OFESSIO
NA
L C
OO
KERY
4 0
-4
CITY
AN
D G
UILD
S SVQ
LEVEL 3 P
RO
FESSION
AL
CO
OKER
Y 0
3 3
DJQ
S1-1 C
ITY A
ND
GU
ILDS N
VQ
LEVEL 1 FO
OD
AN
D D
RIN
K SER
VIC
E 3
0 -3
DJQ
S2-1 C
ITY A
ND
GU
ILDS N
VQ
LEVEL 2 FO
OD
AN
D D
RIN
K SER
VIC
E 2
0 -2
Te
am
Tota
l: 207
213 6
TDK A
NIM
AL C
AR
E A
ND
H
OR
TICU
LTUR
E
DKD
A-2
HN
D A
NIM
AL C
AR
E (YEAR
1) 57
0 -57
DKD
A-Y2
HN
D A
NIM
AL C
AR
E (YEAR
2) 24
0 -24
DKG
SA-2
DIPLO
MA
IN V
ETERIN
AR
Y NU
RSIN
G (SM
ALL
AN
IMA
LS) LEVEL 3 (YEA
R 1)
86 0
-86
DKG
SA-Y2
DIPLO
MA
IN V
ETERIN
AR
Y NU
RSIN
G (SM
ALL
AN
IMA
LS) LEVEL 3 (YEA
R 2)
9 0
-9
DKO
AC
-1 N
C IN
AN
IMA
L CA
RE SC
QF LEV
EL 5 141
0 -141
DKO
AN
-1 IN
TRO
DU
CTIO
N TO
AN
IMA
L CA
RE
135 0
-135
Tea
m To
tal:
452 0
-452 TD
L SOC
IAL
SCIEN
CES
DLD
S-2 H
ND
SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES (YEAR
1) 251
261 10
DLD
S-Y2 H
ND
SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES (YEAR
2) 97
126 29
DLH
A-1
RO
UTES TO
HIG
HER
EDU
CA
TION
(SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES) 109
119 10
DLO
SS-1 N
C IN
SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES SCQ
F LEVEL 5
90 120
30
D
LWH
-1 N
C IN
SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES SCQ
F LEVEL 6
144 214
70
Tea
m To
tal:
691 840
149 TD
M SO
CIA
L SC
IENC
ES AN
D
DM
DS-2
HN
D SO
CIA
L SCIEN
CES
22 0
-22 H
ND
SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES (YEAR
1) 0
45 45
LEAR
NIN
G
OPPO
RTU
NITIES
DM
DS-Y2
HN
D SO
CIA
L SCIEN
CES
24 0
-24 H
ND
SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES (YEAR
2) 0
9 9
DM
OSC
-1 N
C IN
SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES SCQ
F LEVEL 5
34 30
-4
D
MO
SS-1 PR
EPAR
ATIO
N FO
R W
OR
K
0 16
16 PR
EPAR
ATIO
N FO
R W
OR
K / FUR
THER
STUD
Y
24 0
-24
D
MO
TR-1
QU
ALIFIC
ATIO
N FO
R W
OR
K
18 16
-2
D
MO
Z-1 R
ESTAR
T (CO
LLEGE STU
DY A
ND
EMPLO
YMEN
T) 6
1 -5
DM
WH
-1 N
C IN
SOC
IAL SC
IENC
ES SCQ
F LEVEL 6
32 41
9
Tea
m To
tal:
160 158
-2 TD
N LEA
RN
ING
O
PPOR
TUN
ITIES D
NO
SS-1 PR
EPAR
ATIO
N FO
R W
OR
K
0 59
59 PR
EPAR
ATIO
N FO
R W
OR
K / FUR
THER
STUD
Y
64 0
-64
D
NO
TR-1
QU
ALIFIC
ATIO
N FO
R W
OR
K
45 44
-1
D
NO
Z-1 R
ESTAR
T (CO
LLEGE STU
DY A
ND
EMPLO
YMEN
T) 17
33 16
Te
am
Tota
l: 126
136 10
Scho
ol To
tal:
4718 5015
297
Ove
rall To
tal:
12257 13180
923
Ag
end
a Ite
m 6.2
Ap
pe
ndix 3
AC
TIVITY PLAN
NIN
G C
OM
PAR
ISON
Planne
d
Enrolm
ents
Planne
d Full
Time
Enro
lme
ntsC
red
its Ta
rge
ts
Proje
cte
d
Cre
dits
Outturn
Planne
d
Enrolm
ents
Planne
d Full
Time
Enro
lme
ntsC
red
its Ta
rge
tsPla
nned
Enro
lme
nts
Planne
d Full
Time
Enro
lme
ntsC
red
its Ta
rge
ts
3,3732,830
44,10846,399
3,5692,866
46,495196
362,387
4,0351,501
37,10838,901
3,7451,657
37,276-290
156168
3,1472,379
45,17644,869
3,1042,131
39,433-43
-248-5,743
Sub
-tota
l10,555
6,710126,392
130,16910,418
6,654123,204
-137-56
-3,188
Busin
ess a
nd
Co
mm
un
ity De
velo
pm
en
t 9,401
013,550
14,0297,410
1214,026
-1,99112
476Pro
fessio
na
l De
velo
pm
en
t85
075
8586
095
10
20Su
b-to
tal
9,4860
13,62514,114
7,49612
14,121-1,990
12496
PLAN
NED
OU
TTURN
20,0416,710
140,017144,283
17,9146,666
137,325-2,127
-44-2,692
SFC C
REDIT TA
RGET
136,514136,514
134,118
ESF CRED
ITS TARG
ET3,035
3,0353,035
TOTA
L CRED
IT TARG
ET139,549
139,549137,153
3,5037,769
3,207468
4,734172
Diffe
renc
e
Cre
dits a
bo
ve SFC
Cre
dit Ta
rge
tC
red
its ab
ove
Tota
l Cre
dit Ta
rge
t
Cre
ative
Ind
ustrie
s, Co
mp
utin
g a
nd
Busin
ess En
terp
riseEn
gin
ee
ring
, Scie
nc
e a
nd
Tec
hn
olo
gy
Servic
e In
du
stries
2015-162016-17
54
55
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.3
University Progression and Articulation Links
1. Introduction1.1. The purpose of this paper is to provide the Committee with information on the current
status of North East Scotland College’s partnerships with Universities.
2. Background2.1. The College’s robust and extensive links with university partners across Scotland provide
students with a wide range of progression and articulation pathways on completion of their Higher National Diploma and in some cases Higher National Certificate courses at North East Scotland College.
2.2. North East Scotland College continues to be at the forefront of developing university articulation links and opportunities exist for students in the region to progress seamlessly within the College and to progress seamlessly to university (through 2+2 Degree Links).
2.3. The single North East Scotland College Prospectus for 2016-17 includes details of all the articulation routes that are available to prospective students across the region.
3. The Impact on Students of the College’s Articulation Agreements3.1. Given the high demand for university and College places, the College continues to work
closely with partner universities to meet the needs of students who seek progression routes into Degree level study.
3.2. The College currently has formal Agreements in place with 7 universities and working to renew a further 2 agreements.
3.3. Articulation Agreements between the College and each partner university describe how the links operate and these are renewed and updated regularly.
3.4. A total of 34 HNC/D programmes articulate to 226 Degree courses across Scotland, with formal articulation to Year 2 or 3 of the related degree. In addition, the College has established 39 agreed pathways to degree programmes.
3.5. In 2015-16, 515 students gained entry to a degree programme with most articulating students remaining in the region, progressing to either Robert Gordon University (RGU) or The University of Aberdeen.
3.6. The majority of Degree Link students’ progress to RGU with full articulation. At the time of writing this paper, we are awaiting confirmed numbers of those students who benefitted from these links.
3.7. For students on HNC/D programmes without a related vocational degree, the College has established an articulation link to a Business Degree through The Open University. As such, students who wish to progress to degree level study while working or establishing their own business can undertake the BA Business Enterprise Degree.
3.8. The College has entered into a Memorandum of Collaboration Agreement with the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) for the joint delivery of the BSc Audio Engineering (SCQF Level 9) and the BA Popular Music (SCQF Level 9). This will be achieved through a joint delivery basis. A breakown on the delivery of these two programmes are in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2. It is anticipated that 14 students will commence the BA Popular Music programme and 11 students will commence the BSc Audio Engineering programme.
3.9. A list of the university articulation links that are in place for 2016/17 is attached as Appendix 3.
56
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.3
4. Links with Robert Gordon University4.1. By far the greatest number of students progress each year to RGU through the College’s
strong and sector leading Degree Links with RGU.
4.2. The partnership between the College and the University involves joint curriculum planning, enhanced progression and articulation opportunities for learners, joint staff development, and shared approaches to learning and teaching and improved student support links.
4.3. Students across the College can benefit from being Associate Students of the University while at College. This gives them access to the full range of facilities available to RGU students.
4.4. Through the Degree Link Partnership, the two institutions work seamlessly together to provide a broad range of link courses with flexible study options available to students in the North East of Scotland. This working together approach helps to make the transition as easy as possible.
4.5. Students who receive an offer from RGU are invited to attend a Degree Prep Programme prior to embarking on their new course. These programmes, in conjunction with course leaders, prepare students for study at university level with valuable course information and guidance in approaching assessments. Degree Prep provides an opportunity for students to explore their new campus and meet other new students, and receive the support they need to feel comfortable with a new learning environment.
4.6. New and innovative ways of promoting articulation links between North East Scotland College and RGU are always being sought. The Additional Funded Places Scheme is an example of building further on the successful partnership between institutions. In 2015-16 different aspects of delivery in Stages 1 and 2 for three specific courses were provided by each institution. These courses are in Fashion Management, Hospitality Management and Journalism.
4.7. Course teams continue to meet on a regular basis to discuss progress.
4.8. The North East Articulation Hub is well established and provides a recognised forum for strategic discussion at regional level, to enable planning, and monitoring of activities in support of learners. The Hub Management Group is underpinned by a team of staff dedicated to developing a planned system of articulation within the North East. The final North East Articulation Hub meeting was held on the 08 June 2016 at RGU. It will be the intention of all partners to continue with meaningful communication to augment the existing articulation routes.
4.9. An Annual Report on the College’s links with RGU is produced and the 2014-15 report is attached at Appendix 4. The Report contains details of the range and extent of the links between the College and RGU.
4.10. The Scottish Funding Council have confirmed they will fund the last year of the scheme in 2016-17 and a review will be held to establish possible funding for 2017-18.
57
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.3
5. Links with The University of Aberdeen5.1. The Principals of the College and The University of Aberdeen signed a formal Progression
and Articulation Agreement in November 2014.
5.2. Course Level Agreements are in place covering a diverse range of subject areas including Accounting, Computing, Administration and IT, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Sports Coaching, Fitness, Health and Exercise, Applied Science, Music, Working with Communities and Social Sciences. We are currently looking at the development of routes into teaching to support the local economy and address the identified shortage of teachers in Scotland.
5.3. A Joint Liaison Group, comprising senior staff of both organisations oversees the articulation and wider strategic partnership arrangements between the College and the University.
5.4. Degree links with The University of Aberdeen continue to be developed. Currently 12 of the College’s Higher National Certificates and Diplomas link to 57 degrees at The University of Aberdeen.
5.5. In 2014-15, 41 students progressed from North East Scotland College to a degree link at The University of Aberdeen, and in 2015-16 48 students progressed to the University of Aberdeen.
5.6. A joint ‘Lunch and Learn’ Event took place in 2016 which brought together curriculum staff from both organisations to share good practice in relation to learning and teaching approaches and learner support and transition.
5.7 The College is in negotiation with the University to discuss the possibility of becoming a partner on the North East Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP). The partnership is made up of colleges and universities and its role is to promote access to higher education to adult students with few or no formal qualifications who are returning to education after a break.
6. Recommendation6.1 It is recommended that the Committee note the current status of the College’s links with
university partners.
Rob Wallen John DavidsonPrincipal Vice Principal – Learning and Quality
58
Agenda Item 6.3 Appendix 1
BSc Audio Engineering Y3 Nescol SEM 1 9am 10am 11am 12 1pm 2pm 3pm Mon Tues Wed Audio
Systems Theory
Audio Systems Theory
Themed Research project
Themed Research project
PAT
Thursday Digital Audio Applications
Digital Audio Applications
Mix down Techniques
Mix down Techniques
Mix down Techniques
Teaching splits; SEM 1 Module Delivering partner Hours Digital audio Applications
Nescol 2
Mix down Techniques Nescol 3 Themed research project Perth 2 Audio systems Theory Perth 2 PAT Perth 1 SEM 1; Nescol 5 Hours – Perth 5 Hours SEM 2 9am 10am 11am 12 1pm 2pm 3pm Mon Tues Wed Entrepreneur Entrepreneur PAT Thursday Digital
Audio Applications
Digital Audio Application
Live event
Live event
Live event
Teaching Splits; SEM 2 Module Delivering Partner Hours Digital audio apps. Nescol 2 Live event Nescol 3 Entrepreneurship Perth 2 PAT Perth 1 SEM 2; Nescol 5 Hours – Perth 3
60
61
Agenda Item 6.3 Appendix 2
BA Popular Music Performance Y3 Nescol SEM 1 9am 10am 11am 12 1pm 2pm 3pm Mon Ensemble Ensemble 1ST
STUDY 1ST STUDY 2ND STUDY
Tues TRP TRP PAT Songwriting Songwriting Wed Thurs Teaching splits; SEM 1 Module Delivering partner Hours Ensemble Nescol 2 Songwriting Perth 2 TRP Perth 2 Ist study Nescol 2 2nd Study Nescol 1 PAT Perth 1 SEM 1; Nescol 5 Hours – Perth 5 Hours SEM 2 9am 10am 11am 12 1pm 2pm 3pm Mon Ensemble Ens. 2nd
study 2nd study
1ST STUDY 1ST STUDY
Tues Entrepreneursp Ent. PAT Songwriting songwriting Wed Thurs Teaching Splits; SEM 2 Module Delivering Partner Hours Ensemble Nescol 2 2nd study Nescol 2 Songwriting Perth 2 Entrepreneurship Perth 2 PAT Perth 1 1st Study Nescol 2 SEM 2; Nescol 6 Hours – Perth 5
62
Ag
en
da
Item
6.3 A
pp
en
dix 3
Artic
ula
tion
Ag
ree
me
nts a
nd
Ag
ree
d Pa
thw
ays
Art &
De
sign
U
nive
rsity Prog
ressio
n
HN
D A
RT & D
ESIGN
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
s & Isla
nd
s) BA
Fine
Art ye
ar 3 (Le
ws C
astle
Co
lleg
e U
HI, M
ora
y Co
lleg
e U
HI, O
rkne
y Co
lleg
e U
HI)
(sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
. A
red
uc
ed
am
ou
nt o
f cre
dit tra
nsfe
r ca
n b
e a
wa
rde
d a
ga
inst o
the
r qu
alific
atio
ns,
suc
h a
s: BA/BSc
(Ho
ns) D
esig
n &
Inn
ova
tion
, BA (H
on
s) Hu
ma
nitie
s
HN
D FA
SHIO
N BU
SINESS
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e.
HN
D TEX
TILES
Un
iversity o
f the
Hig
hla
nd
s an
d Isla
nd
s BSc
(Ho
ns) C
on
tem
po
rary Te
xtiles ye
ar 3 (Sh
etla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI) (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) O
pe
n U
nive
rsity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
.
HN
D PH
OTO
GRA
PHY
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity, G
rays Sc
ho
ol o
f Art (p
rac
tica
l de
livere
d b
y NESC
ol)
BA C
om
me
rcia
l Ph
oto
gra
ph
y yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e.
2 HN
D V
ISUA
L CO
MM
UN
ICA
TION
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) D
igita
l Me
dia
De
sign
, Pro
du
ctio
n &
De
velo
pm
en
t yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s) BSc
/BSc (H
on
s) Mu
ltime
dia
De
velo
pm
en
t (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
s & Isla
nd
s) BA
(Ho
ns) V
isua
l Co
mm
un
ica
tion
an
d D
esig
n (In
vern
ess C
olle
ge
UH
I, Pe
rth C
olle
ge
U
HI) (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) O
pe
n U
nive
rsity A
n H
ND
ca
n g
ive u
p to
240 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 360 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e w
ith
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e.
HN
C 3D
CO
MPU
TER AN
IMA
TION
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
C c
an
give
up
to 120 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300/360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
/ BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs.
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
S * U
nive
rsity of A
be
rtay
BA (H
on
s) Co
mp
ute
r Arts ye
ar 1 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
BA (H
on
s) Ga
me
De
sign
& P
rod
uc
tion
Ma
na
ge
me
nt ye
ar 1 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
Busin
ess &
Ma
na
ge
me
nt
HN
D A
DM
INISTRA
TION
& IN
FORM
ATIO
N
TECH
NO
LOG
Y
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) M
an
ag
em
en
t yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) M
an
ag
em
en
t with
Hu
ma
n R
eso
urc
e M
an
ag
em
en
t yea
r 3(sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s) U
nive
rsity of A
be
rde
en
M
A Bu
sine
ss Ma
na
ge
me
nt ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
3
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
& Isla
nd
s) BA
Busin
ess a
nd
Ma
na
ge
me
nt ye
ar 3 – (A
rgyll C
olle
ge
UH
I, Inve
rne
ss Co
lleg
e U
HI,
Lew
s Ca
stle C
olle
ge
UH
I, Mo
ray C
olle
ge
UH
I, No
rth H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I, Orkn
ey
Co
lleg
e U
HI, P
erth
Co
lleg
e U
HI, Sh
etla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, W
est H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I)
(sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 218 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
. A
red
uc
ed
am
ou
nt o
f cre
dit tra
nsfe
r ca
n b
e a
wa
rde
d a
ga
inst o
the
r qu
alific
atio
ns,
suc
h a
s: BA
(Ho
ns) Bu
sine
ss Ma
na
ge
me
nt, BSc
(Ho
ns) C
om
pu
ting
& IT a
nd
a se
co
nd
sub
jec
t (w
ith b
usin
ess, d
esig
n, m
ath
em
atic
s, ap
plie
d p
sych
olo
gy o
r statistic
s)
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
S * A
be
rtay U
nive
rsity BA
(Ho
ns) Bu
sine
ss Ma
na
ge
me
nt ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BA
(Ho
ns) M
arke
ting
an
d Bu
sine
ss yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
HN
D BU
SINESS
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA(H
on
s) Ma
na
ge
me
nt ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BA
(Ho
ns) M
an
ag
em
en
t with
Hu
ma
n R
eso
urc
e M
an
ag
em
en
t yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erta
y BA
(Ho
ns) Bu
sine
ss Ma
na
ge
me
nt ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
Qu
ee
n M
arg
are
t Un
iversity
BA (H
on
s) Busin
ess M
an
ag
em
en
t yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
4
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
. A
red
uc
ed
am
ou
nt o
f cre
dit tra
nsfe
r ca
n b
e a
wa
rde
d a
ga
inst o
the
r qu
alific
atio
ns,
suc
h a
s: BA (H
on
s) Busin
ess M
an
ag
em
en
t (stan
da
rd p
ath
wa
ys)
HN
D A
CC
OU
NTIN
G
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) A
cc
ou
ntin
g a
nd
Fina
nc
e (Ta
ug
ht R
ou
te) ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BA
/BA (H
on
s) Ac
co
un
ting
an
d Fin
an
ce
(Tau
gh
t Ro
ute
, Pa
rt Time
) yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erta
y BA
(Ho
ns) A
cc
ou
ntin
g w
ith Fin
an
ce
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
& Isla
nd
s) BA
(Ho
ns) Bu
sine
ss an
d M
an
ag
em
en
t yea
r 3 (A
rgyll C
olle
ge
UH
I, Inve
rne
ss Co
lleg
e U
HI, Le
ws C
astle
Co
lleg
e U
HI, M
ora
y Co
lleg
e
UH
I, No
rth H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I, Orkn
ey C
olle
ge
UH
I, Pe
rth C
olle
ge
UH
I, She
tlan
d
Co
lleg
e U
HI, W
est H
igh
an
d C
olle
ge
UH
I) (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
.
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s, su
ch
as:
BA (H
on
s) Busin
ess M
an
ag
em
en
t (Ac
co
un
ting
pa
thw
ay)
5
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
* U
nive
rsity of A
be
rde
en
M
A A
cc
ou
nta
nc
y (N400) ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
HN
D LEG
AL SERV
ICES
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) La
w &
Ma
na
ge
me
nt ye
ar 3(su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
& Isla
nd
s) BA
(Ho
ns) Bu
sine
ss an
d M
an
ag
em
en
t Ye
ar 2 o
r 3 with
brid
gin
g (A
rgyll C
olle
ge
UH
I, In
vern
ess C
olle
ge
UH
I, Lew
s Ca
stle C
olle
ge
UH
I, Mo
ray C
olle
ge
UH
I, No
rth H
igh
lan
d
Co
lleg
e U
HI, O
rkne
y Co
lleg
e U
HI, P
erth
Co
lleg
e U
HI, Sh
etla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, W
est
Hig
hla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI) (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s).
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e.
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s, su
ch
as: BA
(Ho
ns) Bu
sine
ss Ma
na
ge
me
nt
HN
D TRA
VEL &
TOU
RISM
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) In
tern
atio
na
l Tou
rism M
an
ag
em
en
t (Tau
gh
t Ro
ute
) yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s) U
HI (U
nive
rsity of H
igh
lan
ds &
Islan
ds)
BA (H
on
s) Ho
spita
lity Ma
na
ge
me
nt Y
ea
r 3( Inve
rne
ss Co
lleg
e U
HI, M
ora
y Co
lleg
e
UH
I, No
rth H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I, Pe
rth C
olle
ge
UH
I) (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
r ee
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
.
6
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s, su
ch
as: BA
(Ho
ns) In
tern
atio
na
l Stud
ies
HN
D EV
ENTS M
AN
AG
EMEN
T
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) Eve
nts M
an
ag
em
en
t yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Qu
ee
n M
arg
are
t Un
iversity
BA (H
on
s) Even
t Ma
na
ge
me
nt ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) U
HI (U
nive
rsity of H
igh
lan
ds &
Islan
ds)
BA (H
on
s)Ho
spita
lity Ma
na
ge
me
nt Y
ea
r 3(Inve
rne
ss Co
lleg
e U
HI, M
ora
y Co
lleg
e U
HI,
No
rth H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I, Pe
rth C
olle
ge
UH
I) (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e.
HN
D A
DV
ERTISING
& PR
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) P
ub
lic R
ela
tion
s yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Qu
ee
n M
arg
are
t Un
iversity
BA (H
on
s) Film a
nd
Me
dia
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BA (H
on
s) Me
dia
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BA (H
on
s) PR
an
d M
ed
ia ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BA
(Ho
ns) P
R M
arke
ting
an
d Eve
nts ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) U
HI (U
nive
rsity of H
igh
lan
d &
Islan
ds)
BA (H
on
s) Busin
ess M
an
ag
em
en
t yea
r 3(Arg
yll Co
lleg
e U
HI, In
vern
ess C
olle
ge
UH
I, Le
ws C
astle
Co
lleg
e U
HI, M
ora
y Co
lleg
e U
HI, N
orth
Hig
hla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, O
rkne
y
Co
lleg
e U
HI, P
erth
Co
lleg
e U
HI, Sh
etla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, W
est H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I)
7
(sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
.
Mu
sic, D
ram
a &
Cre
ative
Me
dia
HN
D M
USIC
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erd
ee
n
B.Mu
s (Mu
sic) ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) B.M
us (M
usic
an
d C
om
mu
nitie
s) yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erta
y BA
(Ho
ns) So
un
d a
nd
Mu
sic fo
r Ga
me
s yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
s an
d Isla
nd
s) BA
(Ho
ns) P
op
ula
r Mu
sic ye
ar 3 (N
orth
East Sc
otla
nd
Co
lleg
e) (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) Th
e O
pe
n U
nive
rsity A
n H
ND
ca
n g
ive u
p to
240 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 360 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e w
ith
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e.
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s, su
ch
as: BA
(Ho
ns)A
rts an
d H
um
an
ities
MU
SIC TEA
CH
ING
DIPLO
MA
(req
uire
s co
nfirm
atio
n)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erd
ee
n
B.Mu
s (Mu
sic) ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
HN
D A
CTIN
G &
PERFORM
AN
CE
The
HN
D c
an
he
lp g
ain
en
try to a
varie
ty of p
erfo
rmin
g a
rts de
gre
e p
rog
ram
me
s (i.e
. Ro
yal Sc
ottish
Co
nse
rvato
ire – (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s). O
pe
n U
nive
rsity A
n H
ND
ca
n g
ive u
p to
240 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 360 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e w
ith
8
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e.
HN
D C
REATIV
E IND
USTRIES: TV
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) M
ed
ia ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) Th
e O
pe
n U
nive
rsity A
n H
ND
ca
n g
ive u
p to
240 cre
dit tra
nsfe
r po
ints to
wa
rds th
e 360 p
oin
t BA/BSc
O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dit p
oin
ts tow
ard
s the
300 po
int BA
/BSc O
pe
n
De
gre
e
HN
D SO
UN
D PRO
DU
CTIO
N
Gla
sgo
w C
ale
do
nia
n U
nive
rsity BSc
/BSc (H
on
s) Au
dio
Tec
hn
olo
gy ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) U
HI (U
nive
rsity of H
igh
lan
ds a
nd
Islan
ds)
BA (H
on
s) Po
pu
lar M
usic
yea
r 3 (No
rth Ea
st Sco
tlan
d C
olle
ge
) (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erta
y BA
(Ho
ns) So
un
d a
nd
Mu
sic fo
r Ga
me
s yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
HN
D C
REATIV
E IND
USTRIES: M
EDIA
&
CO
MM
UN
ICA
TION
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) P
ub
lic R
ela
tion
s yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) M
ed
ia ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) Q
ue
en
Ma
rga
ret U
nive
rsity BA
(Ho
ns) Film
an
d M
ed
ia ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BA
(Ho
ns) M
ed
ia ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BA
(Ho
ns) P
R a
nd
Me
dia
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BA (H
on
s) PR
Ma
rketin
g a
nd
Even
ts yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
9
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
it tran
sfer p
oin
ts tow
ard
s the
360 po
int BA
/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e w
ith H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
it po
ints to
wa
rds th
e 300 p
oin
t BA/BSc
Op
en
D
eg
ree
Co
mp
utin
g
HN
D C
OM
PUTIN
G: SO
FTWA
RE DEV
ELOPM
ENT
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BSc (H
on
s) Co
mp
utin
g (A
pp
lica
tion
Softw
are
De
velo
pm
en
t) yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s) BSc
(Ho
ns) D
igita
l Me
dia
– De
sign
, Pro
du
ctio
n &
De
velo
pm
en
t yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s) U
nive
rsity of A
be
rde
en
M
A/BSc
Co
mp
utin
g Sc
ien
ce
yea
r (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
MSc
i Co
mp
ute
r Scie
nc
e w
ith In
du
strial P
lac
em
en
t yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
MA
/BSC In
form
atio
n Syste
ms a
nd
Busin
ess M
an
ag
em
en
t yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erta
y BSc
(Ho
ns) C
om
pu
ting
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
s & Isla
nd
s) BSc
(Ho
ns)C
om
pu
ting
yea
r 3 (Arg
yll Co
lleg
e U
HI, In
vern
ess C
olle
ge
UH
I, Lew
s Ca
stle
Co
lleg
e U
HI, M
ora
y Co
lleg
e U
HI, N
orth
Hig
hla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, O
rkne
y Co
lleg
e U
HI,
Pe
rth C
olle
ge
UH
I, She
tlan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I) (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
. A
red
uc
ed
am
ou
nt o
f cre
dit tra
nsfe
r ca
n b
e a
wa
rde
d a
ga
inst o
the
r qu
alific
atio
ns,
10
suc
h a
s: BSc (H
on
s) Co
mp
utin
g &
IT, Top
-up
BSc (H
on
s) Co
mp
utin
g &
IT Pra
ctic
e BSc
(H
on
s) Co
mp
utin
g &
IT an
d a
sec
on
d su
bje
ct (w
ith b
usin
ess, d
esig
n, m
ath
em
atic
s,
ap
plie
d p
sych
olo
gy o
r statistic
s)
HN
D C
OM
PUTIN
G: N
ETWO
RKIN
G
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) C
om
pu
ter N
etw
ork M
an
ag
em
en
t an
d D
esig
n ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BSc
/BSc (H
on
s) Dig
ital M
ed
ia – D
esig
n, P
rod
uc
tion
& D
eve
lop
me
nt ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct
to c
on
ditio
ns)
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
s & Isla
nd
s) BSc
(Ho
ns)C
om
pu
ting
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns) (A
rgyll C
olle
ge
UH
I, Inve
rne
ss C
olle
ge
UH
I, Lew
s Ca
stle C
olle
ge
UH
I, Mo
ray C
olle
ge
UH
I, No
rth H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
U
HI, O
rkne
y Co
lleg
e U
HI, P
erth
Co
lleg
e U
HI)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
. A
red
uc
ed
am
ou
nt o
f cre
dit tra
nsfe
r ca
n b
e a
wa
rde
d a
ga
inst o
the
r qu
alific
atio
ns,
suc
h a
s: BSc (H
on
s) Co
mp
utin
g &
IT, BSc (H
on
s) Co
mp
utin
g &
IT an
d a
sec
on
d
sub
jec
t (with
bu
sine
ss, de
sign
, ma
the
ma
tics, a
pp
lied
psyc
ho
log
y or sta
tistics)
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
* U
nive
rsity of A
be
rtay
BSc (H
on
s) Ethic
al H
ac
king
yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
HN
D IN
TERAC
TIVE M
EDIA
(WEB D
EVELO
PMEN
T)
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) D
igita
l Me
dia
– De
sign
, Pro
du
ctio
n &
De
velo
pm
en
t yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t
to c
on
ditio
ns)
11
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e
C
on
struc
tion
HN
C BU
ILT ENV
IRON
MEN
T
Edin
bu
rgh
Na
pie
r Un
iversity
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) C
on
struc
tion
& P
roje
ct M
an
ag
em
en
t yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) Bu
ildin
g Su
rveyin
g ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BSc
/BSc (H
on
s) Re
al Esta
te Su
rveyin
g ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BSc
/BSc (H
on
s) Qu
an
tity Surve
ying
yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
C c
an
give
up
to 120 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300/360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
w
ith H
on
ou
rs En
gin
ee
ring
HN
D ELEC
TRICA
L ENG
INEERIN
G
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BEng
(Ho
ns) Ele
ctro
nic
an
d Ele
ctric
al En
gin
ee
ring
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc (En
g) Ele
ctro
nic
an
d Ele
ctric
al En
gin
ee
ring
yea
r 3 (pa
rt time
) (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erd
ee
n
BEng
Elec
trica
l & Ele
ctro
nic
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Edin
bu
rgh
Na
pie
r Un
iversity
BEng
(Ho
ns) Ele
ctric
al En
gin
ee
ring
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
& Isla
nd
s) BEn
g (H
on
s) Eng
ine
erin
g: Ele
ctric
al a
nd
Elec
tron
ic Y
ea
r 3 (Lew
s Ca
stle C
olle
ge
UH
I, M
ora
y Co
lleg
e U
HI, N
orth
Hig
hla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, P
erth
Co
lleg
e U
HI (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
12
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s,
suc
h a
s: Bac
he
lor o
f Eng
ine
erin
g (H
on
s)
H
ND
ELECTRO
NIC
S
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BSc (En
g) Ele
ctro
nic
an
d Ele
ctric
al En
gin
ee
ring
(pa
rt time
) yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s)
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e
HN
D M
ECH
AN
ICA
L ENG
INEERIN
G
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BEng
(Ho
ns) M
ec
ha
nic
al a
nd
Offsh
ore
Eng
ine
erin
g ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
BEng
(Ho
ns) M
ec
ha
nic
al En
gin
ee
ring
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc (En
g) M
ec
ha
nic
al En
gin
ee
ring
(pa
rt time
)yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erd
ee
n
BEng
Me
ch
an
ica
l an
d Ele
ctric
al ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BEn
g M
ec
ha
nic
al ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BEn
g C
ivil an
d En
viron
me
nta
l yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BEng
Civil a
nd
Struc
tura
l yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BEng
Civil ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) Ed
inb
urg
h N
ap
ier U
nive
rsity BEn
g/BEn
g (H
on
s) Me
ch
an
ica
l Eng
ine
erin
g ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BEn
g/BEn
g (H
on
s) Me
ch
atro
nic
s yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
13
BEng
/BEng
(Ho
ns) P
olym
er En
gin
ee
ring
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BEng
/BEng
(Ho
ns) En
erg
y & En
viron
me
nta
l Eng
ine
erin
g ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
BEng
/BEng
(Ho
ns) En
gin
ee
ring
with
Ma
na
ge
me
nt ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BEn
g/BEn
g (H
on
s) MEn
g M
ec
ha
nic
al En
gin
ee
ring
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
s & Isla
nd
s) BEn
g (H
on
s) Me
ch
an
ica
l Eng
ine
erin
g (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s an
d b
ridg
ing
un
it) (Le
ws C
astle
Co
lleg
e U
HI, M
ora
y Co
lleg
e U
HI, N
orth
Hig
hla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, P
erth
C
olle
ge
UH
I) (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BEng
(Ho
ns) M
ec
ha
nic
al En
gin
ee
ring
De
sign
(Inve
rne
ss Co
lleg
e U
HI, Le
ws C
astle
Co
lleg
e U
HI, N
orth
Hig
hla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, P
erth
Co
lleg
e U
HI) (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) Th
e O
pe
n U
nive
rsity A
n H
ND
ca
n g
ive u
p to
240 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 360 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e w
ith
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e.
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s, su
ch
as: Ba
ch
elo
r of En
gin
ee
ring
(Ho
ns) (u
p to
180 cre
dits to
wa
rds 360 H
on
s d
eg
ree
)
Scie
nc
e
HN
C A
PPLIED SC
IENC
ES (C
he
mistry/Ph
ysics Ro
ute
)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erd
ee
n
BSc P
hysic
s yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
HN
D A
PPLIED SC
IENC
ES
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) Bio
scie
nc
e w
ith Bio
me
dic
al Sc
ien
ce
s yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) Fo
ren
sic a
nd
An
alytic
al Sc
ien
ce
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) Bio
me
dic
al Sc
ien
ce
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erd
ee
n
BSc Bio
log
ica
l Scie
nc
es ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)• BSc
Ch
em
istry yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s)• BSc
Enviro
nm
en
tal Sc
ien
ce
(Ph
ysica
l Scie
nc
e) ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
14
co
nd
ition
s) BSc P
ha
rma
co
log
y yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns))•
BSc P
hysio
log
y yea
r 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s))• BSc
Spo
rts & Exe
rcise
Scie
nc
e ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
c
on
ditio
ns)•
BSc Bio
ch
em
istry yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns) •
BSc Bio
tec
hn
olo
gy
(Ap
plie
d M
ole
cu
lar Bio
log
y) yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns) •
BSc G
en
etic
s yea
r 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BSc G
en
etic
s (Imm
un
olo
gy) ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) •
BSc Im
mu
no
log
y yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)•
BSc Im
mu
no
log
y an
d
Ph
arm
ac
olo
gy ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)) BSc M
icro
bio
log
y yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s)• BSc
Mo
lec
ula
r Biolo
gy ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) Q
ue
en
Ma
rga
ret U
nive
rsity BSc
(Ho
ns) A
pp
lied
Ph
arm
ac
olo
gy ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BSc
(Ho
ns) H
um
an
Biolo
gy ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
BSc (H
on
s) Nu
trition
yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc (H
on
s) Nu
trition
an
d Fo
od
Scie
nc
e ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) U
nive
rsity of A
be
rtay
BSc (H
on
s) Biom
ed
ica
l Scie
nc
es ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
UH
I (Un
iversity H
igh
lan
ds &
Islan
ds)
BSc (H
on
s) Enviro
nm
en
tal Sc
ien
ce
yea
r 3 (Inve
rne
ss Co
lleg
e U
HI, M
ora
y Co
lleg
e U
HI,
No
rth H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I, Pe
rth C
olle
ge
UH
I) (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
The
HN
D A
pp
lied
Scie
nc
es w
ill give
240 cre
dit tra
nsfe
r tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e w
ith H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n
De
gre
e
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s, su
ch
as: •
BSc (H
on
s) Na
tura
l Scie
nc
es •
BSc (H
on
s) Enviro
nm
en
tal Sc
ien
ce
• BSc
(H
on
s) Enviro
nm
en
tal Stu
die
s
15
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
S * U
nive
rsity of A
be
rde
en
(a
ll sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc Bio
log
y yea
r 2 BSc Bio
log
ica
l Scie
nc
es ye
ar 2 •
BSc C
on
serva
tion
Biolo
gy
yea
r 2 • BSc
Ch
em
istry yea
r 2 • BSc
Bioc
he
mistry ye
ar 2 BSc
Ge
ne
tics ye
ar •
BSc
Ge
ne
tics (Im
mu
no
log
y) yea
r 2 • BSc
Imm
un
olo
gy ye
ar 2 BSc
M
icro
bio
log
y yea
r 2 • BSc
Mo
lec
ula
r Biolo
gy ye
ar 2 •
BSc Ec
olo
gy ye
ar 2 •
BSc
Enviro
nm
en
tal Sc
ien
ce
yea
r 2 • BSc
Ma
rine
Biolo
gy ye
ar 2 •
BSc P
lan
t &
Soil Sc
ien
ce
yea
r 2 • BSc
Zoo
log
y yea
r 2 BSc - P
ha
rma
co
log
y yea
r 2 • BSc
P
hysic
s yea
r 2 • BSc
Ph
ysiolo
gy ye
ar 2 •
BSc Sp
orts &
Exerc
ise Sc
ien
ce
yea
r •
BSc Im
mu
no
log
y an
d P
ha
rma
co
log
y yea
r 2
Ca
re: C
hild
ca
re
HN
C C
HILD
HO
OD
PRAC
TICE
HN
C Ea
rly Edu
ca
tion
& C
hild
ca
re c
an
he
lp c
an
did
ate
s ga
in e
ntry to
a n
um
be
r of
pro
fessio
na
l de
gre
e p
rog
ram
me
s inc
lud
ing
Prim
ary Sc
ho
ol Te
ac
hin
g.
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
& Isla
nd
s) BA
(Ho
ns) C
hild
an
d Y
ou
th Stu
die
s yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
(Arg
yll Co
lleg
e U
HI, In
vern
ess C
olle
ge
UH
I, Lew
s Ca
stle C
olle
ge
, Mo
ray C
olle
ge
UH
I, N
orth
Hig
hla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, O
rkne
y Co
lleg
e U
HI, P
erth
Co
lleg
e U
HI, Sh
etla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI, W
est H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I. All H
NC
en
try req
uire
s 120 cre
dit H
N)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
C c
an
give
up
to 120 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300/360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n
De
gre
e / BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s,
suc
h a
s: D
ip H
E Early C
hild
ho
od
BA
(Ho
ns) Ea
rly Ch
ildh
oo
d
BA (H
on
s) Ch
ildh
oo
d &
Yo
uth
Stud
ies
16
BA (H
on
s) He
alth
& So
cia
l Ca
re
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
S * U
nive
rsity of A
be
rtay
BA (H
on
s) Crim
ino
log
y Stud
ies ye
ar 1 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
BSc (H
on
s) Psyc
ho
log
y yea
r 1 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc (H
on
s) Soc
iolo
gy ye
ar 1 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
HN
C W
ORK
ING
WITH
CO
MM
UN
ITIES (req
uire
s c
on
firma
tion
)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erd
ee
n
BA (H
on
s) Co
mm
un
ity Lea
rnin
g &
De
velo
pm
en
t yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
C c
an
give
up
to 120 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300/360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n
De
gre
e /BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s,
suc
h a
s: BA
(Ho
ns) H
ea
lth &
Soc
ial C
are
BA
(Ho
ns) C
om
bin
ed
Soc
ial Sc
ien
ce
s
BA (H
on
s) Co
mb
ine
d So
cia
l Scie
nc
es (P
sych
olo
gy)
BA (H
on
s) Co
mb
ine
d So
cia
l Scie
nc
es (So
cio
log
y) BA
(Ho
ns)C
om
bin
ed
Soc
ial Sc
ien
ce
s (Crim
ino
log
y)
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
S * U
nive
rsity of A
be
rtay
BSc (H
on
s) Psyc
ho
log
y yea
r 1 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc (H
on
s) Soc
iolo
gy ye
ar 1 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BA
(Ho
ns) C
rimin
olo
gy Stu
die
s yea
r 1 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Ca
re: H
ea
lth &
Soc
ial C
are
Q
ue
en
Ma
rga
ret U
nive
rsity
17 H
NC
SOC
IAL SERV
ICES
BSc (H
on
s) Psyc
ho
log
y an
d So
cio
log
y yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc (H
on
s) Pu
blic
Soc
iolo
gy ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
C c
an
give
up
to 120 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300/360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n
De
gre
e / BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s, su
ch
as:
BA (H
on
s) Soc
ial W
ork (Sc
otla
nd
) (with
em
plo
yer sp
on
sorsh
ip)
BA/BSc
He
alth
an
d So
cia
l Ca
re
Ca
re: N
ursin
g
HN
C C
ARE &
AD
MIN
ISTRATIV
E PRAC
TICE
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
B Nu
rsing
(Ad
ult) ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) B N
ursin
g (M
en
tal H
ea
lth) ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) Ed
inb
urg
h N
ap
ier U
nive
rsity 3 ye
ar p
re-re
gistra
tion
Nu
rsing
Pro
gra
mm
e (BN
) LD n
ursin
g ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
c
on
ditio
ns)
Qu
ee
n M
arg
are
t Un
iversity
BSc (H
on
s) Nu
rsing
yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
C c
an
give
up
to 120 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300/360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n
De
gre
e / BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs
A re
du
ce
d a
mo
un
t of c
red
it tran
sfer c
an
be
aw
ard
ed
ag
ain
st oth
er q
ua
lifica
tion
s, su
ch
as:
Dip
HE H
ea
lthc
are
Pra
ctic
e, BSc
(Ho
ns) A
du
lt Nu
rsing
, BSc (H
on
s) Me
nta
l He
alth
Nu
rsing
18
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
S * U
nive
rsity of A
be
rtay
BSc (H
on
s) Nu
rsing
(Me
nta
l He
alth
Nu
rsing
) yea
r 1 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
BSc (H
on
s) Psyc
ho
log
y an
d C
ou
nse
lling
yea
r 1 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Soc
ial Sc
ien
ce
s
HN
D SO
CIA
L SCIEN
CES
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BA/BA
(Ho
ns) A
pp
lied
Soc
ial Sc
ien
ce
s yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erd
ee
n
MA
Soc
iolo
gy ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erta
y BA
(Ho
ns) So
cia
l Scie
nc
e ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
BSc (H
on
s) Soc
iolo
gy ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) U
HI (U
nive
rsity of H
igh
lan
ds &
Islan
ds)
BA (H
on
s) Soc
ial Sc
ien
ce
s yea
r 3 (P
erth
Co
lleg
e U
HI, In
vern
ess C
olle
ge
UH
I, Mo
ray C
olle
ge
UH
I)
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
The
HN
D So
cia
l Scie
nc
es w
ill give
240 cre
dit tra
nsfe
r po
ints to
wa
rds th
e BA
(Ho
ns)
Co
mb
ine
d So
cia
l Scie
nc
es d
eg
ree
de
livere
d a
t No
rth Ea
st Sco
tlan
d C
olle
ge
in
pa
rtne
rship
with
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
H
on
ou
rs or 180 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
300 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
. A
red
uc
ed
am
ou
nt o
f cre
dit tra
nsfe
r ca
n b
e a
wa
rde
d a
ga
inst o
the
r qu
alific
atio
ns,
suc
h a
s BA/BSc
(Ho
ns) P
sych
olo
gy, BA
(Ho
ns) C
om
bin
ed
Soc
ial Sc
ien
ce
s (C
rimin
olo
gy), BA
(Ho
ns) C
om
bin
ed
Soc
ial Sc
ien
ce
s (Soc
iolo
gy).
BA (H
on
s) Enviro
nm
en
tal Stu
die
s, BA (H
on
s) Crim
ino
log
y & P
sych
olo
gy
19
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
S * U
nive
rsity of A
be
rde
en
M
A H
istory ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) M
A P
sych
olo
gy ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
MA
Soc
iolo
gy ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) M
A P
hilo
sop
hy ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) M
A P
olitic
s an
d In
tern
atio
na
l Re
latio
ns ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erta
y BSc
(Ho
ns) P
sych
olo
gy ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) BA
(Ho
ns) C
rimin
olo
gy ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
Spo
rt & Fitn
ess
HN
D C
OA
CH
ING
& D
EVELO
PING
SPORT
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) A
pp
lied
Spo
rt an
d Exe
rcise
Scie
nc
e ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) U
nive
rsity of A
be
rtay
BSc (H
on
s) Spo
rt an
d Exe
rcise
– lea
din
g to
na
me
d ro
ute
s yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s) U
HI (U
nive
rsity of H
igh
lan
ds &
Islan
ds)
BA(H
on
s) Spo
rts Ma
na
ge
me
nt Y
ea
r 3 (A
rgyll C
olle
ge
UH
I, Inve
rne
ss Co
lleg
e U
HI, Le
ws C
astle
Co
lleg
e U
HI - se
co
nd
an
d
third
yea
r on
ly, Mo
ray C
olle
ge
UH
I, No
rth H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I - sec
on
d a
nd
third
ye
ar o
nly, O
rkne
y Co
lleg
e U
HI - se
co
nd
an
d th
ird ye
ar o
nly, P
erth
Co
lleg
e U
HI,
She
tlan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I - sec
on
d a
nd
third
yea
r on
ly, We
st Hig
hla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI)
BA (H
on
s) Go
lf Ma
na
ge
me
nt (N
orth
Hig
hla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI – D
orn
oc
h) (su
bje
ct to
c
on
ditio
ns)
20
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e
An
HN
D C
oa
ch
ing
an
d D
eve
lop
me
nt Sp
ort w
ill give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s BSc
(Ho
ns) Sp
ort, Fitn
ess a
nd
Co
ac
hin
g
AG
REED PA
THW
AY
S * U
nive
rsity of A
be
rde
en
BSc
Exerc
ise &
He
alth
Scie
nc
e ye
ar 2 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
HN
D FITN
ESS, HEA
LTH &
EXC
ERCISE
Rob
ert G
ord
on
Un
iversity
BSc/BSc
(Ho
ns) A
pp
lied
Spo
rt an
d Exe
rcise
Scie
nc
e ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s) U
nive
rsity of A
be
rtay
BSc (H
on
s) Spo
rt an
d Exe
rcise
– lea
din
g to
na
me
d ro
ute
s yea
r 3 (sub
jec
t to
co
nd
ition
s)
Qu
ee
n M
arg
are
t Un
iversity
BSc (H
on
s) Ph
ysica
l Ac
tivity, He
alth
an
d w
ellb
ein
g ye
ar 3 (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
UH
I (Un
iversity o
f Hig
hla
nd
& Isla
nd
s) BA
Spo
rts Ma
na
ge
me
nt Y
ea
r 3 (A
rgyll C
olle
ge
UH
I, Inve
rne
ss Co
lleg
e U
HI, Le
ws C
astle
Co
lleg
e U
HI - se
co
nd
an
d
third
yea
r on
ly, Mo
ray C
olle
ge
UH
I, No
rth H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I - sec
on
d a
nd
third
yea
r on
ly, Orkn
ey C
olle
ge
UH
I - sec
on
d a
nd
third
yea
r on
ly, Pe
rth C
olle
ge
UH
I, Sh
etla
nd
Co
lleg
e U
HI - se
co
nd
an
d th
ird ye
ar o
nly, W
est H
igh
lan
d C
olle
ge
UH
I) (su
bje
ct to
co
nd
ition
s)
The
Op
en
Un
iversity
An
HN
D c
an
give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s the
360 cre
dit BA
/BSc O
pe
n D
eg
ree
with
21
Ho
no
urs o
r 180 cre
dits to
wa
rds th
e 300 c
red
it BA/BSc
Op
en
De
gre
e.
An
HN
D Fitn
ess, H
ea
lth &
Exerc
ise w
ill give
up
to 240 c
red
its tow
ard
s BSc (H
on
s)
Spo
rt, Fitne
ss an
d C
oa
ch
ing
A
GREED
PATH
WA
Y *
Un
iversity o
f Ab
erd
ee
n
BSc Exe
rcise
& H
ea
lth Sc
ien
ce
yea
r 2 (sub
jec
t to c
on
ditio
ns)
∗
The
‘Ag
ree
d Pa
thw
ays’ a
re a
gre
em
en
ts in p
lac
e b
etw
ee
n th
e C
olle
ge
an
d th
e U
nive
rsities b
ut n
ot d
ee
me
d a
s true
artic
ula
tion
d
ue
to th
e ye
ar o
f en
try on
to th
e d
eg
ree
pro
gra
mm
e.
84
1
NORTH EAST ARTICULATION HUB
Annual Report – Session 2014/15
The following report outlines activities undertaken during Session 2014/15 in line with the North East Articulation Hub Operational Plan 2013–2015, and the second year of extended funding for the regional Hubs. The report confirms that the Hub successfully met targets for Session 2014/15, and that it has continued to support efforts to enhance student achievement and retention. Section A details activities and impact of the Hub in table format and Section B provides a narrative portrait of activity and outcomes.
2 S
ection
A
Imp
act of H
ub
Activities
Institutional c om
mitm
ent P
lanning and p artnership
Perform
ance and a ctivity
Infrastructure and s tudent retention
Progress made over the
last twelve m
onths (A
ugust 2014 to July 2015) to strategically align and em
bed articulation in all partner institutions
• The H
ub continues to demonstrate a com
mitm
ent to articulation with advanced standing, w
orking in partnership to develop and support individual articulation routes w
ith guaranteed places for learners.
• Articulation is
aligned to the university’s strategy, A
Clear
Future for a leading university in a new
era and the college’s Strategic Plan.
•
SFC
targets for articulation are em
bedded in both N
orth East Scotland
College (N
ESC
ol) and R
GU
’s Outcom
e Agreem
ents.
• Follow
ing SFC
approval of a revised schem
e, partners signed a new
agreement re-
confirming their
comm
itment to
providing 75 Additional Funded
Places in the region.
• The com
prehensive partnership betw
een R
GU
and NES
Col is
formalised in the
Associate C
ollege M
emorandum
of Agreem
ent and the D
egree Link M
emorandum
of Agreem
ent.
• The form
al longstanding relationship betw
een the tw
o institutions continues to secure a planned, shared approach to articulation w
ithin the N
orth East of Scotland.
• A M
emorandum
of Agreem
ent also exists betw
een the university and D
undee and Angus
College.
• Sustained and
substantial growth
of articulation entrants, and achievem
ent of intake targets. Indeed, the H
ub exceeded the target for the num
ber of articulating students w
ith 45
9
articulating students gaining entry to the university w
ith full credit in S
ession 2014/15. In addition, the recruited 75 Additional Funded
Places in Session
2014/15 provided an overall intake of 5
34
articulating students.
• Articulation targets
continue to be
• H
ub partners continue to provide reciprocal institutional input to the O
utcome A
greement
process.
•
Com
pletion of internal m
onitoring via the Subject Level R
eview
Meeting Process and
Hub M
anagement
3
embedded w
ithin the university’s core num
ber planning.
Group; including review
of key perform
ance indicator data specific to articulating students.
• D
evelopment of
planned, targeted and sustainable transition support via D
egreePrep to im
prove the experience of articulating students.
Partners engagement
with hub activity and
planning
• The H
ub M
anagement G
roup, com
prising of Senior
Managem
ent teams
from both
institutions, continues to m
eet biannually to address hub activity.
• A S
teering Group
meets thrice
annually to oversee activities undertaken under the auspices of the A
ssociate C
ollege Agreem
ent and facilitate discussion on regional coherence and collaborative opportunities betw
een institutions. (Including for exam
ple; articulation, staff developm
ent, resources, joint course delivery).
• D
evelopment of
strategic projects including A
dvanced, Foundation and M
odern Apprenticeships; the
sharing of approaches and m
aterials which
support the developm
ent of entrepreneurship skills w
ithin students; participation in the STV
Aberdeen
project; and m
echanisms to
celebrate the longstanding articulation partnership betw
een the college and university.
• Activity to prom
ote greater aw
areness and uptake of further education and the articulation pathw
ays into higher education am
ong groups that are traditionally under-represented, and specifically M
D20 and M
D40
students through W
ider Access
projects.
• The partnership has been enriched through the provision of 75 A
dditional Funded Places and considerable com
mitm
ent from staff of both institutions
was dem
onstrated in developing the revised Additional Funded Places
model to best suit particular courses and cohorts and develop collaborative
teaching between R
GU
and NES
Col.
Course-specific collaborations significantly benefited learners in both the
4
college and university. Benefits included opportunities to: better
understand vocational aspects of industry; facilitate the transition of students into the placem
ent experience; work collaboratively on projects;
share experiences and receive informal/form
al peer support; utilise specialist know
ledge at the college, enhance students’ technical proficiency at an earlier stage of the course.
Hub contribution to
regionalisation work and
agenda
• The H
ub continues to demonstrate com
mitm
ent from both institutions to w
ork in partnership to respond to regional agenda and represent the region at national level, exam
ples of which include:
o
Responding to the outcom
es of Developing the Young W
orkforce and the expansion into Non-A
dvanced and A
dvanced Apprenticeships. The H
ub recognises of the importance of m
eeting regional skills needs and retaining graduates w
ithin the region.
o Participation in a num
ber of showcase opportunities to im
prove awareness of the w
ork of the partnership and the opportunities w
hich it helps create for learners in the region. In Session 2014/15
these included presenting at a SFC
and Scottish G
overnment Im
plementation event for D
eveloping the Young W
orkforce and at the SFC
Regional S
howcase Event.
o
A cross-institution event to share experiences of approaches and activities w
hich support the developm
ent of entrepreneurship skills within students. A
number of opportunities w
ere identified for partners to w
ork collaboratively and colleagues agreed there were benefits in m
eeting twice annually to
augment existing activity.
o
Contribution to Inter-H
ub meetings
o
The desire to maxim
ise regional resources.
Enhancement to the
student experience and satisfaction for articulating students.
• Institutional com
mitm
ent to enhancing the student experience and satisfaction for articulating students in both institutions and is evident in the increase in overall achievem
ent rate for all full-time S
tage 3 articulating students in S
ession 2014/15.(Please refer: R
etentio
n an
d A
ttainm
ent b
elow
)
• The provision of planned and sustainable student support, at key points in the learner journey, rem
ains a fundam
ental activity of the Hub:
Pre-application The D
egreeLink branding concept remains the m
ain marketing and recruitm
ent tool for Hub pathw
ays. C
onsiderable work has been undertaken by the college in re-developing the D
egree Link website and
associated marketing m
aterials eg. Degree Link B
rochure.
5
The college heavily promoted the D
egreeLink brand and Associate S
tudent Schem
e to both current and prospective students and once again recruited previous articulating students to prom
ote the Associate
Student S
cheme w
ithin the college via ‘pop-ups’ and presentations; to promote articulation in the region
by attending school careers events etc.; and to showcase the activity of the H
ub at national level. R
egistrations to the Associate S
tudent Schem
e increased once again during Session 2014/15, to nearly
300.
Post-application/pre-entry The package of transition support, know
n as DegreePrep, continues to be enhanced and aligned w
ith course w
ork to ensure relevant and timely support.
Planned use of social media to augm
ent the Associate O
ffer and further support transition and retention. Follow
ing student feedback from the annual Transition S
urvey, The ‘Com
ing from C
ollege’ Facebook G
roup was launched to encourage articulating students to engage w
ith each other and with
the university, helping to address issues of socialisation as reported by some articulating students.
A num
ber of subject areas have embedded tailored sessions for articulating cohorts as part of their
core inductions, and specific Advanced Entry Tutors continue to support articulating students in
certain courses.
Post enrolment
All students have access to core S
tudy Skills and A
ccess Unit resources on an on-going basis. The
Unit provides advice and guidance on a w
ide range of topics from m
anaging time effectively to critical
thinking and presentation skills. Tutors offer one-to-one appointments tailored to students’ individual
needs, or small group sessions and in conjunction w
ith academics deliver targeted course
interventions as requested.
• The H
ub has facilitated effective cross working
between the support services of institutions for
the benefit of learners and the academic
experience:
o An online enrolm
ent process has been developed for the A
ssociate Student S
cheme
resulting in a shorter turnaround time for the
application and enrolment process and
imm
ediate access to online resources follow
ing enrolment.
6
o C
lose partnership working has allow
ed prom
otion of the Associate S
tudent Schem
e on B
lackboard, the college’s VLE. Links to
the Degree Link w
ebsite receive high visibility on the hom
epage, and students identified as being on relevant courses have inform
ation about the Schem
e on their personal profile page.
Issues/challenges going forw
ard to AY2014-15
and beyond. For exam
ple, additional articulation places, supply and dem
and issues, successful student applications from
HN
courses – addressing K
PI2.3 num
ber and percentage of successful course applications from
H
NC
/D, etc.
• U
ptake in a small
number of subject-
areas is in decline and recruitm
ent is expected to be challenging ie. C
omm
unications, Tourism
, Com
puting and N
ursing (Mental
Health). Increased
provision of articulation opportunities from
H
EIs nationally, w
hilst providing m
ore choice for learners, m
ay result in m
ore choosing to leave the region.
• H
ub funding is due to be discontinued after Session 2015/16, and
as such a key activity w
ill be maintaining and
embedding articulation
work-strands w
ithin the university approach to w
idening access.
7
Section B Partnership and articulation routes A. Please list the active partners (college/university/employer/other) of the articulation hub. The North East Articulation Hub comprises Robert Gordon University and North East Scotland College, with the university acting as the lead institution. Mutually, Hub institutions engage with a range of stakeholders both within the region and nationally including: • Local authorities • NHS • Schools and the ASPIRENorth Schools for Higher Education Programme • Skills Development Scotland and Sector Skills Councils • Economic fora such as Opportunity North East and Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of
Commerce • Professional, regulatory and statutory bodies and employers • SFC funded projects such as Back on Course B. Please provide detail of the confirmed and planned guaranteed/formal routes,
and any non-guaranteed/informal articulation routes within the articulation hub.
Hub partners remain committed to supporting articulation in the region and continue to forge a comprehensive partnership as formalised in the Associate College Memorandum of Agreement and the Degree Link Memorandum of Agreement. Partner institutions continue to offer guaranteed articulation to learners in the North-East region, following successful completion of a relevant HNC/D of a degree-linked course. The establishment of the new regional college has provided the opportunity to harmonise routes so that only single agreements per HN/course exist for 2015 entry. Notwithstanding a small number of changes to courses offered, the number of routes available to Hub students was maintained at 34 thereby providing substantial continuity for learners planning to articulate. RGU has a similar formal agreement with Dundee and Angus College which offers guaranteed articulation for a significant number of routes where Course Level Agreements have been signed, bringing the total number of routes provided by the university to 55. In addition to the above strategic partnerships the university considers applications from all Scottish colleges. Furthermore, a Course Entry Agreement exists for specific HN courses delivered by partner colleges of the University of Highlands and Islands, whereby advanced entry may be considered subject to places being available and any academic requirements being met. Although the university remains the largest recipient of HN students from North East Scotland College, the college also has formalised progression arrangements with several other universities facilitating a wider range of opportunities for students within the region.
8
C. Please provide detail on number of articulating students by subject area (using JACS)
During the reporting period the overall number of articulating entrants from partner colleges to the university continued to increase; representing a positive endorsement of the formal routes and guaranteed places available. The most active subject areas are Business and Administrative Studies, Engineering, Computer Science, Law and Mass Communication and Documentation. Within these areas a number of articulation routes attract substantial cohorts with twenty or more entrants annually. Notwithstanding these, remaining subject areas generally also attract sizable entrants with the exception of Biological Sciences. In this case discussion between course teams indicates that students elect to progress to courses not offered by the university rather than to articulate (e.g. Chemistry). Performance A. What was the target total number of articulating students entering with full credit (as per the SFC definition) in AY 2014-15? The baseline target for Session 2014/15 entry is noted below: Articulation Additional Funded Places Total 315 75 390
B. What was the actual total number of articulating students entering with full credit in AY 2014-15? The baseline target for Session 2014/15 entry was exceeded as noted below: Articulation Additional Funded Places Actual 459 75 534
The Hub is pleased to report the significant overachievement of target numbers in 2014/15.
SubjectActive Hub
Routes
Active Non-Hub
Routes
Total Active Routes
Hub Students
Non-Hub Students Total
B. Subjects allied to Medicine 2 2 4 15 NULL 15C. Biological Sciences 2 2 4 11 8 19F. Physical Sciences 1 1 2 1 1 2H. Engineering 5 1 6 50 3 53I. Computer Sciences 3 3 6 47 22 69K. Architecture, Building and Planning 1 2 2 2 4L. Social studies 1 3 4 33 6 39M. Law 1 1 2 46 NULL 46N. Business and Administrative Studies 7 8 15 101 46 147P. Mass Communication and Documentation 2 2 4 43 3 46W. Creative Arts and Design 2 3 5 14 5 19All 26 27 53 363 96 459
9
Retention and Achievement Please provide statistical detail on the retention and achievement records for articulating students in your hub/institution for AY 2014/15 Full analysis of retention and achievement data will be undertaken when these data are made available via the national articulation database. On this basis the university has used internal student achievement reporting to analyse achievement rates among articulating students in 2014/15. This analysis indicates the following: Student Achievement Rates (SARs) for all articulating students in Session 2014/15 increased from 88% to 89.9%, helping to close the attainment gap between articulating and continuing cohorts as SARs of continuing students remained stable.
The overall achievement rate for all full-time Stage 3 articulating students in Session 2014/15 increased from 82.4% to 86.5%, in line with the continuing cohort where achievement rates increased from 92.2% to 93.8%. The achievement rate for full-time Stage 3 articulating students from Hub partner colleges increased slightly from 82.5% to 85.3%, but was slightly lower than the overall achievement rate for articulating students. The overall achievement rate for all full-time Stage 2 articulating students in Session 2014/15 decreased from 88.1% to 80.9%, this represents a change of six students. Positively, however, the achievement rate for articulating students from Hub partner colleges increased from 77.8% to 78.9%, demonstrating the value of the Hub.
SARs of Stage 3 articulating students are particularly high across the following subject areas:
o Management (Including Fashion Management, Management with HR, Management with
Marketing) o Communications (Public Relations and Events) o Creative Arts (Photography, Fashion and Textile Design, 3D Design, Painting) o Surveying o Electronic and Electrical and Engineering o Social Sciences o Biomedical Science and Bioscience with Biomedical Sciences
A small number of courses previously identified as requiring additional transition support have seen improvements in SARs following the introduction of pre-sessional DegreePrep Programmes, and work continues to ensure the content of each subject-specific programme is aligned to the needs of each cohort. Only one subject area, Accounting and Finance, remains a concern with regards to attainment and retention. A range of targeted support has been put in place over recent years by both partner institutions, and partners continue to consider means of better preparing HN students for study at university level and ensuring a smooth transition.
10
Financial report Income:
RGU / Hub Infrastructure £226,000 North East Scotland College £174,000 Total £400,000
Expenditure:
RGU / Hub Infrastructure 2014/15 Staff Costs – infrastructure £103000 Staff costs – course and subject £15000 Staff costs – student support £24000 Teaching Materials £13000 Student Transition and Support £20500 Student travel and subsistence £3000 Staff travel / subsistence £2500 Shared course delivery costs £36000 Marketing £9000 TOTAL £226000
North East Scotland College Staff costs - infrastructure £55000 Staff costs – course and subject £37800 Teaching Materials £42750 Marketing / events £21800 Shared course delivery costs £14300 Staff Travel / subsistence £2100 Student Travel / Subsistence £250 TOTAL £174000
95
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.4
School/College Links Activity
1. Introduction1.1. The purpose of this paper is to advise the Committee of the status of School/College Links
activity.
2. Background2.1. School/College Links activity includes the range of programmes that support the College
in meeting the objectives outlined in Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy - Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and implementation of Foundation Apprenticeships (FAs).
2.2. Regional activity is governed by partnership agreements in place with Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council.
2.3. A revised partnership agreement is currently being drafted and will be subject to partner consultation.
3. Current Status Report3.1. The Regional Outcome Agreement School/College Links activity target of 4,000 credits
for AY2015-16 has been achieved.
3.2. A breakdown of courses being provided to school pupils in AY2016-17 is attached as Appendix 1 to this paper.
3.3. 1,375 places have been offered on 75 courses. Anticipated uptake will be around 1,200 enrolments, which compares to 900 enrolments in AY2015-16, a 36% increase in activity overall.
3.4. Courses offered range from Supported Learning courses in preparing young people for the Full Time Preparation for Work Course, to programmes delivering SCQF Level 7 HN Units in Business.
3.5. New activity for AY2016-17 includes delivery of four Foundation Apprenticeship frameworks – Mechanical Engineering, Children and Young People, ICT Hardware and Health and Social Care – to five groups of pupils.
3.6. Mapping and development of defined progression pathways from FAs is underway. It is anticipated that agreement will be reached to recognise FAs as entry criteria for Primary Teaching and Nursing Degree programmes. The Mechanical Engineering and ICT FAs have already been confirmed as qualifying criteria for entry to relevant degree programmes at RGU. Other national pathways have been identified by SDS.
3.7. Additional new subject areas will support pathways to local employment for young people and include Laboratory Science, Maritime Skills, Business, Working in Communities, Built Environment, Creative Textiles, Photography and Computing Science.
3.8. In order to manage the increased activity levels the Online Application system has been developed to manage the School/College links applications for AY2016-17 activity.
4. Recommendation4.1. It is recommended that the Committee note the current status of the School/College
Links activity.
Rob Wallen John DavidsonPrincipal Vice Principal - Learning & Quality
96
Agenda Item 6.4 Appendix 1
School Links 2016-‐17 Activity
Loca
l A
utho
rity
Cou
rse
Title
Tim
e
Loca
tion
Plac
es
Ava
ilabl
e
Ant
icip
ated
En
rolm
ents
ICTShire NPA Computing (Year 2) Tues 1pm - 3.20pm (Blended Learning) & Fri 8.50am - 11.35am Mintlaw Academy 20 15Shire Higher Computing Science Wed 9.15am - 3.15pm Ellon College Campus 14 14City Higher Computing Science Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 20 23City NPA SCQF 6 Digital Media Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 16 14City Foundation Apprenticeship ICT Hardware Two afternoons per week tbc 2pm - 5pm Aberdeen City Campus 10 TBC
EngineeringCity NC SCQF 6 Mechanical Engineering Mon1.45pm - 3.45pm and Thurs 11am - 1pm and 1.45pm - 2.45pm Dyce Academy 15 8City SfW N5 Engineering Mon 10.55am - 12.55pm & Wed 8.35am - 10.35am Bucksburn Academy 15 15City SfW N5 Engineering Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Altens Campus 15 14Shire SfW National 5 - Young Women into Energy Thurs and Fri 0850 - 1130 Fraserburgh Academy 14 11Shire SfW National 5 - Young Women into Energy Mon 0840 - 1220 and Tues 1220 - 1540 Peterhead Academy 14 12Shire SfW National 5 - Young Women into Energy Mon 1220 - 1540 and Tues 0840 - 1220 Peterhead Academy 14 13Shire SfW National 5 - Young Women into Energy Wed 1050 - 1500 Turriff Academy 14 12Shire SfW National 5 - Young Women into Energy Fri 0905 - 1545 Gordon Schools 14 13Shire SfW National 5 - Young Women into Energy Fri 0910 - 1455 Banff Academy 14 15Shire SfW National 5 - Young Women into Energy Tuesday 0850 - 1225 Mintlaw Academy 14 14Shire SfW N5 Engineering Mon & Tue 8.50am - 11.30am Fraserburgh Campus 15 16Shire SfW N5 Engineering Tue 9.30am – 12.20pm & Fri 12.45pm – 2.50pm Peterhead Academy 15 14Shire SfW N5 Engineering Wed 9.15am - 3.15pm Ellon College Campus 15 16Shire SfW N5 Engineering Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 15 6Shire SfW N5 Engineering (Shared Delivery) Fri 8.50am - 11.35am Mintlaw Academy 15 10Shire SfW N5 Laboratory Science Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 15 5Shire NC+ Mechanical Engineering Infill On request Fraserburgh Campus 5 1Shire FA Mechanical Engineering Wednesday 8.50am - 4pm Fraserburgh Campus 10 TBC
ScienceShire SfW N5 Laboratory Science Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 15 5
Creative IndustriesCity NPA SCQF 5 Photography Mon & Wed 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 20 17Shire Higher Photography Wed 8.30am - 11.30am Ellon College Campus 15 17City NPA SCQF 5/6 Creative Textiles and Garment Manufacture Mon & Wed 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 15 11
Hair and BeautyShire C&G Lv 1 Hairdressing Tues 1.00pm – 3.20pm & Fri 9.00am – 11.15am Phead Academy (Mintlaw Group) 16 13Shire C&G Lv 1 Hairdressing Tue 9.30am – 12.20pm & Fri 12.45pm – 2.50pm Peterhead Academy 16 16Shire C&G Lv 1 Hairdressing Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Turriff Academy 12 12Shire C&G Lv 1 Hairdressing Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 16 12City C&G Lv 1 Hairdressing Mon & Wed 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 18 24Shire C&G Lv 1 Hairdressing Wed 9.30am - 3.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 18 23City C&G Lv 1 Beauty Therapy Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 18 23Shire C&G Lv 1 Beauty Therapy Wed 9.30am - 3.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 18 18Shire C&G Lv 1 Beauty Therapy Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 16 18
Early Education and HealthcareShire SfW N4 EE & Childcare Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 20 15Shire SfW N5 EE & Childcare Mon & Tue 8.50am - 11.30am Fraserburgh Campus 20 16City SfW N4 EE & Childcare Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 20 22Shire SfW N5 EE & Childcare Wed 9.30am - 3.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 20 18City SfW N5 EE & Childcare Mon & Wed 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 20 8
City SfW N4 EE & Childcare Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 20 21Shire SfW N5 Health Sector Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 15 13City SfW N5 Health Sector Mon & Wed 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 15 15City Foundation Apprenticeship Children and Young People Two afternoons per week tbc 2pm - 5pm Aberdeen City Campus 10 TBCShire Foundation Apprenticeship Children and Young People Wednesday 8.50am - 4pm Fraserburgh Campus 10 TBCCity Foundation Apprenticeship Health and Social Care Tues & Thurs 2pm - 5pm Aberdeen City Campus 10 TBC
Construction City Nat 4 SfW Construction Crafts (Construction Academy) Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Altens Campus 15 12City SfW National 5 Construction Crafts Mon & Wed 2pm - 4.30pm Hazlehead Academy 15 14Shire SfW National 5 Construction Crafts Wed 9.30am - 3.30pm Altens Campus 15 10Shire SfW National 5 Construction Crafts Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 15 16City NC SCQF 6 Units Built Environment Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Hazlehead Academy 20 7
AutomotiveCity IMI Intro to Vehicle Technology Mon & Wed 2pm - 4.30pm Altens Campus 15 15Shire IMI Intro to Vehicle Technology Wed 9.30am - 3.30pm Altens Campus 15 16Shire IMI Intro to Vehicle Technology Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 14 14Shire IMI Intro to Vehicle Technology Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Fraserburgh Campus 14 14
BusinessCity NPA SCQF 5 Business Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen Grammar School 20 11City HNC Business Units Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 16 16
Sport and LeisureCity NPA SCQF 6 Exercise and Fitness Leadership Tues & Thurs 2pm - 4.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 20 20Shire NPA SCQF 6 Exercise and Fitness Leadership Wed 9.30am - 3.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 20 21
MaritimeShire SfW N5 Maritime Friday 9.15am - 2.45pm Scottish Maritime Academy 12 6
Social Sciences and Supported LearningCity Higher Psychology Mon 1.35pm - 4.35pm Bridge of Don Academy 30 21City Higher Psychology Tues 1.35pm - 4.35pm Bucksburn Academy 30 23Shire Higher Psychology Wed 8.30am-11.30am Ellon Academy 30 22City Higher Psychology Wed 2pm - 5pm Aberdeen City Campus 30 25City Higher Psychology Thurs 2pm - 5pm Aberdeen City Campus 30 35City Higher Psychology Fri 1.15pm-4.15pm Cults Academy 30 18City Higher Psychology Mon 2pm - 5pm Aberdeen City Campus 30 27City Higher Psychology Tues 1.35pm - 4.35pm Oldmachar Academy 30 28City Higher Sociology Tues 2pm - 5pm Aberdeen City Campus 30 34Shire Higher Sociology Wed 9am - 12pm Turriff Academy 20 10Shire SQA Units SCQF 5 Intro to Working in the Community Wed 9.30am - 3.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 20 23Shire Preparation for Work Supported Learning School Link Thursday 10am - 3pm Fraserburgh Campus 15 15City and Shire
Preparation for Work Supported Learning School Link Fri 9.30am - 3.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 87 87Shire Transition Link Course for ASD Learners (Jan - Mar) Tues 9am - 3.30pm Aberdeen City Campus 15 0
Total 1374 1158
99
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.5
Students’ Association Audit Outcome
1. Introduction1.1 The purpose of this paper is to provide the Committee with information relating to the
Audit of North East Scotland College Students’ Association for the 2014 to 2015 tax year.
2 Background and Context2.1 At its meeting on 26 January 2016, the Committee was notified of issues that arose in
relation to financial records for 2014-15. These issues have resulted in the accounts of the Students’ Association being qualified.
3 Current Position3.1 The Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended March 2015 have now
been signed off. These were submitted to OSCR and receipt acknowledged on 25 May 2016. These are attached as Appendix 1 to this paper.
3.2 Responses to the Management Letter have been completed and submitted to Johnson Carmichael, signed by the Trustee Chair. These are attached as Appendix 2 to this paper.
3.3 At the time of writing this paper a “Lessons Learned” report was under preparation for OSCR based on the management letter responses. This will conclude business in relation to the accounts for that period.
3.4 Johnson Carmichael will shortly begin the audit of the March 2016 Accounts. These are due for submission before December 2016. Johnson Carmichael have advised that there is still likely to a Qualification on the accounts for 2015-16 as a legacy of the issues raised in the 2014-15 audit.
4 Recommendation4.1 It is recommended that the Committee note the information contained in this paper.
Rob Wallen Elaine HartPrincipal Vice Principal – Human Resources
100
Agenda Item 6.5 Appendix 1
120
The Trustees North East Scotland College Students Association North East Scotland College Gallowgate ABERDEEN AB25 IBN
Our ref: JM/KB/ABEC04
17 May 2016
Dear Sirs REPORT TO TRUSTEES During the course of our audit for the year ended 31 March 2015 a number of matters arose which we consider should be brought to your attention. Accompanying this letter is a memorandum noting these points together with any recommendations we have for possible improvements which could be made. These matters came to light during the course of our normal audit tests which are designed to assist us in forming our opinion on the financial statements. Our tests may not necessarily disclose all relevant matters and should not be relied upon to do so. However, if any matter did come to our attention during our audit tests, we would of course, inform you immediately. The points noted in the accompanying memorandum have been prepared for the sole use of the trustees they must not be disclosed to a third party, or quoted or referred to, without our prior written consent. No responsibility is assumed by Johnston Carmichael to any other party. We would be grateful if you could enter the charity's comments against each point under the "comments" column of the memorandum and return it to us in due course. Finally, we would like to express our thanks to all members of the company's staff who assisted us in carrying out our work. Yours faithfully Johnston Carmichael LLP
Agenda Item 6.5 Appendix 2
NORTH EAST SCOTLAND COLLEGE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION POINTS NOTED DURING THE COURSE OF OUR AUDIT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2015 POINTS NOTED, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
COMMENTS
A EXPECTED MODIFICATIONS TO
AUDITORS REPORT
With respect to the areas noted below the
audit evidence available to us was limited. Owing to the nature of the charity’s records we were unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence on the following areas;
• the accuracy, completeness and
classification of non-grant income; This is recognised and action now taken in
that monthly accounts are submitted to accountant and Income checked against till receipts reconciled with bus ticket sales records/Student Card sales records /stocks sales records and sums banked. We also ensure that we are holding records of Income from NUS Extra Card sales via credit notes. Bank statements are checked on a monthly basis so that all Income is identified, recorded and evidenced.
• the authorisation, accuracy and
classification of certain expenditure; This is acknowledged and all items of
expenditure are now recorded on expense forms and approved by Student Association Manager. Any items of expenditure exceeding £500 are to be approved by the Trustee Board. There is now no access to petty cash for Sabbaticals or other officers. The bank card is in possession of Student Association Manager who manages all on line banking .Any contracts entered into require approval of the Trustee Board.
POINTS NOTED, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
COMMENTS
• The existence of stock with a carrying value of £3,543, as we did not observe the counting of the physical stock at 31 March 2015 and were not able to obtain sufficient appropriate evidence regarding stock quantities by using other audit procedures;
It is acknowledged that there was lack of control over stock. No further stock has been ordered. Stock sales go through the tills and are then recorded monthly against the stock spreadsheet on a monthly basis .It has been agreed by Trustees that no stock will be sold through the SA website. For future stock intake it has been agreed that stock will be bought on demand and payment made in advance from purchaser.
• The existence of the cash balance
with a carrying value of £2,086, as we did not observe the counting of the cash balance at 31 March 2015 and were not able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence by using other audit procedures.
Income and expenditure is checked monthly against bank statements. Items of income and expenditure are submitted to accountants on monthly basis with breakdown supplied by SAM.
B WEAKNESSES IN ACCOUNTING
AND CONTROL SYSTEM
Incoming resources In the preparation of the accounts, Gardner
CA had to make assumptions regarding income of £18,426 that could not be identified on till reports.
This is acknowledged. All sales now go through tills. Till receipts are submitted to accountant on monthly basis. Credit notes from sources of Income are kept in hard copy and submitted to accountant. Banking is done on at least a fortnightly basis.
POINTS NOTED, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
COMMENTS
We were not able to obtain records of the number of Student Cards sold during the year.
This is acknowledged. Student Cards sales now go through tills. Any request for Student Card sales paid directly into the bank account are made known to SAM and identified in monthly statements (students who cannot attend campus during opening hours) This options is used on a limited basis and card only issued when SAM acknowledges payment has been received.
There is a risk that income is not complete,
accurate or classified correctly in the financial statements.
Agreed that’s this was previously the case Income is now recorded in several ways .In hard copy in Income/Expenditure Folder kept by SAM , on electronic spreadsheet and on paper record form . This is also checked against bank statements and supporting evidence provided monthly to accountants.
We would recommend that all till reports are
kept and are reconciled to the banking reports on a regular basis.
Till reports are reconciled on a monthly basis. Paper copies of till reports are stored in file in paper copy by Sabbatical Officer. There is no till in use on Fraserburgh campus.
Expenditure We identified instances where expense
forms were not approved in advance of the reimbursement taking place.
This is acknowledged. No expenses are reimbursed until expense forms are submitted.
A selection of expense forms could not be
obtained for the year. This is acknowledged. Expense forms are
retained in hard copy in Income and Expenditure Folder held by current and previous SAMs.( 2015/2016)
During the year £900 was paid to a staff
member for the purchase of two iPads and no receipt was received. These assets could not be traced and we could not identify if the cash had been returned to the Association.
This is acknowledged and these assets cannot be retrieved and cash reimbursement has not been sought as liability is unable to be ascertained. In current situation it is clear to whom any devices belong, the whereabouts of these devices and Insurance is in place for both iPads made available to current Sabbaticals.
POINTS NOTED, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
COMMENTS
There is a risk that the resources of the Association may not be being used for the correct purposes and the allocation of expenses in the accounts may be inaccurate.
It is acknowledged that this may have been the case as expenditure was not recorded or approved. Payment of expenses and items of expenditure must be approved by SAM or Trustee Board as appropriate and should be itemised against Income and Expenditure Categories and approved for Association purposes. Only SAM has access to bank card and to online banking. There is no petty cash available.
We would recommend that all capital
expenditure is appropriately authorised prior to the purchase being made. All expense forms should be authorised prior to reimbursement and all receipts attached to the form.
All items of expenditure are currently authorised by SAM although procedures now state that items over £100 must be approved by SAM, items over £500 by Trustee Board. All contracts entered into to be approved by Trustee Board.
Wages It was noted during the audit that four
members of staff who had resigned from the Association were paid sums totalling £11,022 to which they were not entitled. The majority of the balance has not been recovered.
This is acknowledged. One of the members of staff has now paid these sums back in full. The other had agreed to do so but has failed to do so by the deadline agreed , the Association are now taking legal advice re recovery of this debt.
As some of the above overpayments were
made to Trustees the Association should pay particular attention to any payments made to Trustees given the responsibilities of Trustees and the heightened scrutiny of such payments.
It is acknowledged that paid Sabbaticals are also trustees and therefore in receipt of wages. This has been identified in the accounts submission to OSCR. All parties now involved in the payment of wages to Sabbaticals are aware of close scrutiny needed. Business Office, HR and SAM are currently overseeing wages paid and start and end dates of employment.
We recommend that the payroll is reviewed
monthly to ensure payments are only made to staff currently employed. Also procedures should be put in place to ensure that the College HR department are updated on a timely basis of any changes to staffing to ensure their payroll records are up to date.
See above, this action has now been taken. A wages forecast has been provided by Business Office to SAM and agreed and recognised as accurate.
POINTS NOTED, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
COMMENTS
Two staff members were allowed to make payments to the pension scheme run by the College when they did not meet the correct criteria.
This has been acknowledged by HR as an oversight of pension rules and confusion over the status of Sabbaticals employed by the Student Association in its status as an Unincorporated Organisation with charitable status but payments made through the college wages systems. Members have now been advised of the situation. HR are taking advice from LGPS to recover payments made. Payments will be returned to employees and on costs to Association budget. Legal advice is being sought as to necessary pension provision to be made for those employed in temporary Sabbatical positions and if and when necessary an appropriate pension provider (i.e. NEST) will be sought.
We recommend that procedures are put in
place to ensure only those staff eligible are entered into the pension scheme
Student Association staff will not be entered into the LGPS scheme. Those employed by the college who meet LGPS criteria i.e. current Student Association Manager (SAM) will continue to be paid through LGPS.
Some sabbatical officers do not have a
contract of employment with the College or the Association.
It is not clear which of the Sabbatical Officers for 2014-2015 did not have a contract in place. Both current Sabbaticals do have a Contract of Employment. Contracts of Employment are to be reviewed with HR for incoming and returning Sabbaticals for 2016/2017.
We would recommend that all staff have a
signed contract in place. See above
Stock We were unable to reconcile the stock held
at 31 March 2015 due to no records being kept of stock sales made.
This is acknowledged. All stock sold will go through tills. All till receipts are kept in hard copy. Till receipts are also submitted to accountant on a monthly basis. A spreadsheet of stock held is kept and sales recorded monthly.
POINTS NOTED, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
COMMENTS
We also noted that there may be some items of stock that were given away but not removed from the stock listing.
This is acknowledged and any donations of stock or spoiled stock will be recorded and spoiled stock kept. Any donations of stock (outgoing) will be approved in advance by SAM and any incoming donations recorded by the Sabbatical receiving donations unless monetary and these will be approved by SAM/Trustee Board.
There is a risk that stock is overstated or
that sales have not been recorded correctly. This is acknowledged and systems in place
as described above to rectify this. Stock should be recorded at the lower of
cost or net realisable value. Stock items were recorded at the sale price in the stock listings.
This is acknowledged
We would recommend that records are kept
of all stock movements in the year and that stock is recorded at the lower of cost or net realisable value.
This will now be done and system are in place to capture this.
Cash Due to insufficient records in order to
reconcile the cash balance a write off of £6,468 was required to arrive at the year end balance.
It is acknowledged that Income was not sufficiently recorded. Income is now tracked through on line banking and sources identified and evidenced to accountants.
In order to verify the cash balance at the
year end we counted cash onsite at 23 October 2015 and attempted to reconcile this back to 31 March 2015. From this work we identified that there was significant cash balance held on the premises rather than being banked regularly.
This is acknowledged and banking is now done at least fortnightly but more frequently during times of increased takings.
We would recommend that procedures are
implemented to bank cash on a more regular basis. We also recommend that all records are kept and are reconciled to the cash balance on a regular basis.
Both recommendations have now been taken on board – accounts submitted monthly, till receipts and takings reconciled, bank statements checked on monthly basis and narrative provided to accountant. Banking is required to be done at least fortnightly.
POINTS NOTED, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
COMMENTS
C QUALITATIVE ASPECTS OF ENTITY'S ACCOUNTING PRACTICES/FINANCIAL REPORTING
As noted above there are a number of areas
in which sufficient accounting records were not maintained.
This is acknowledged and all recommendations have now been addressed and are referred to in the comments contained in this report.
D OTHER MATTERS (INCLUDING
MATTERS IN OTHER ISAs)
None.
129
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.6
Students’ Association – Review and Budget
1. Introduction1.1 The purpose of this paper is to allow the Committee to consider issues relating to the
NESCol Students’ Association.
2. Background2.1 A review of the NESCol Students’ Association was carried out by NUS Scotland. A copy of
the Review Report is provided at Appendix 1.
2.2 This report was considered by the NESCol Students’ Association Trustee Board on 03 June 2016, and following the meeting the Chair of the Trustee Board produced a paper which she has asked be presented to the Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee of the College Board. The paper is attached as Appendix 2.
2.3 Along with the paper, the Chair of the Trustee Board has proved a revised budget for 2016-17 which she asked be brought to the attention of the Committee. A copy of the revised budget is attached as Appendix 3.
3. Context3.1 It will be noted that the paper from the Chair of the Trustee Board raises issues relating
the financial position of the Association. The NUS Report refers to the suggestion from the Scottish Funding Council that £100k be allocated for a College Students’ Association and the paper from the Chair of the Trustee Board draws attention to this, and to the fact that the revised budget forecasts a deficit of some £6k. The budget allocated to the Students’ Association by this Committee was based on an understanding of the Association’s needs at that time, and did take into account the fact that the £20k of revenue from selling student cards that had been obtained in previous would not in future be available to the Association. The paper from the Chair of the Trustee Board provides additional information that the Committee may want to take into consideration.
3.2 It will also be noted that the paper from the Chair of the Trustee Board also raises issues about the possibility of the College providing additional support, specifically in relation to finance. Up till now the position adopted has been that the Association should be responsible for managing its own financial transactions. The Committee may wish to consider whether it is happy with the extent of support provided to the Association. In this context the Committee may wish to consider what is the appropriate balance between allowing autonomy and providing support (and therefore to some extent exercising control).
3.3 Further it will be noted that the paper from the Chair of the Trustee Board raises the issue of the charitable status of the Association. The NUS Report notes that charitable status is a “positive (albeit longer term) goal” for students associations, but questions whether it is the best arrangement for the NESCol Students’ Association at the present time. The Committee may wish to consider the status of the Association. In doing so the Committee may wish to consider the extent to which losing its separate status and being absorbed into the College may have an impact on the Association and on the College. In particular it should be noted that if the Association is no longer a distinct entity separate from the College, the officials of the Association would uniquely be employees of the College by virtue of an election process and not a selection process.
4. Recommendation4.1 It is recommended that the Committee consider the issues raised in the attached
documents and decide whether any review of existing arrangements is required.
Rob Wallen Elaine HartPrincipal Vice Principal Human Resources
130
Review of North East Scotland College Students’ Association April 2016
Mike Williamson Development Consultant NUS Scotland
Agenda Item 6.6 Appendix 1
Contents Page 3. Background 4. Perspectives on the value of the students’ association 5. Purpose of the students’ association 6. Planning 7. Accountability 8. Autonomy 9. Funding and sustainability 10. Charitable status and trustee board 11. Student Association Manager role 13. Sabbatical roles 14. Geography 14. Sabbatical working relationship 15. Class representatives 16. Appendix A: Recommendations 18. Appendix B: Questions asked of interviewees
Background
1. In February 2016 North East Scotland College Students’ Association had little institutional memory within its personnel. The two members of staff dealing with the students’ association had little way of discerning how well the students’ association at NESCol was performing, and approached NUS Scotland for an external perspective. In discussing the framework and self-evaluation tool with the two Regional Presidents and Michelle Collie, one of the chairs of the Trustee Board, and the urgent need to find a way for the association to effectively implement the framework, it was agreed that an appropriate starting point would be for Mike Williamson, Development Consultant at NUS Scotland to carry out a review of the students’ association.
2. The purpose of this review is not to form a judgement about the students’ association, but rather to explore difficulties which the association has faced in recent times, and produce recommendations for consideration by the association and the college. In reading this report one might assume that a judgement would be overwhelmingly negative, but that assumption would be incorrect. We have been asked to look at particular areas because the staff and officers involved in the students’ association feel that there have been challenges in those areas, and as a result much of what we have outlined in this report is not wholly positive. However the students’ association should be commended for many aspects of its activity, including its volunteer engagement and retention, its engagement in national education priorities, and its approachable and welcoming environment.
3. The review was structured around the Framework for the Development of Strong
and Effective College Students’ Associations in Scotland. In consultation with Kirsty and Karena, as well as Allison Lamont, Student Association Manager and Elaine Hart, Vice Principal Human Resources, it was decided that the review would focus on several areas of the Framework:
Accountability (Governance and Democracy) Student Association Manager role (Sustainable Resources) Perspectives on the value of the students’ association (Value and Impact) Funding (Sustainable Resources) Trustee Board (Governance and Democracy) Planning (Governance and Democracy, Value and Impact) Relationship with college structures (Shaping the Life and Work of the College)
4. A key part of this review took place through interviews with several key
stakeholders and participants of the students’ association on the 29th and 30th March 2016. The review included a visit to the campus in Fraserburgh.
March 29th:
a) Allison Lamont, Student Association Manager b) Elaine Hart, Head of Human Resources, senior manager with responsibility for the
students’ association c) Cole and Chris, volunteer executive office members at Fraserburgh d) Kirsty Anderson, Regional President
March 30th:
e) Rob Wallen, College Principal f) Gillian Griffin, Head of Student Services, member of student association’s trustee
board, formerly college manager with responsibility for the students’ association
g) David, former Regional President, member of exec at Gallowgate, and Louise, member of trustee board and volunteer in Gallowgate association office
h) Karena Wetherall, Regional President i) Michelle Collie, chair of trustee board, Chief Executive at Robert Gordon
University Students’ Union j) Vivian and Alex, volunteer executive office members at Gallowgate. Alex is also a
member of NUS Scotland’s Scottish Executive Committee.
5. All were asked similar questions in their interviews, although in some cases follow-up and prompting questions were required to explore the issue fully. Some interviewees were more familiar with certain aspects of the students’ association, and were better able to answer some questions than others, but all gave a valuable perspective.
6. Below we have summarised responses relating to each of the key areas covered,
outlined our professional perspective, and where appropriate offered recommendations. A few additional issues did arise and they are also outlined below.
Perspectives on the value of the students’ association
7. Positively, all interviewees responded that they themselves saw the value in the students’ association. When asked whether they believed students saw the value of the students’ association, responses were much more mixed. The volunteer members of the executives that we spoke to were confident that students did see the value, or at least were beginning to see the value. Their confidence was in contrast to the opinion of staff within the college we spoke to. However, since the officers’ experiences are closer to those of an everyday student their responses may be closer to the true picture of what students think.
8. However as Rob Wallen pointed out in his interview, the students’ association did not score well on the recent Student Satisfaction and Engagement Survey. The Student Association Impact Research carried out around a year ago by NUS Scotland also indicated that students at North East Scotland College were more likely to be indifferent to their students’ association than the national average.
9. Several interviewees expressed the opinion that students were more likely to see or feel the benefit of having a students’ association if they were based in Fraserburgh rather than at Gallowgate. The reasons given for this were that the students’ association office is situated in an area where students often congregate, that students remain on campus during breaktimes, that there is a much closer-knit student community at Fraserburgh, and that Kirsty is more able to be out and about talking to students than Karena because Karena is so often doing paperwork.
10. When asked their impression of the students’ association’s overall effectiveness, answers were divided. Whilst nobody painted a wholly positive picture of the students’ association, some seemed more aware of its difficulties than others. Kirsty, Karena, Allison, Elaine and Michelle all said very explicitly that they didn’t believe the Students’ Association was very effective. However several interviewees remarked, unprompted, that they believed the sabbatical officers are doing as well as they can.
11. The reasons given for this perceived lack of effectiveness were highly consistent:
Several interviewees said that they felt the students’ association’s main activity was focused on ensuring its own existence, rather than adding value.
A perception that there was too much oversight from various sources, and so the students’ association spent a lot of time collecting statistics about itself, and too little time actually carrying out its role. Allison in particular said that there was very little she could do without having to think about who needs to sign it off either within the college, the association, or externally.
The students’ association has spent a large amount of time creating or reviewing documentation, including constitution and schedules, reports for various college committees, minutes for internal meetings, strategic plan, Student Partnership Agreement, request forms.
The students’ association’s funding model means that it needs to generate revenue in order to survive, but it is not set up with the infrastructure necessary to carry out sales, and sales take up time which could be better used.
To date the students’ association has had little structure both in terms of support and process. Now that structures are beginning to solidify the association should be able to focus on its core activities, but there is still a lot of work to do in this regard.
Many of these issues are explored in more detail in the relevant sections below.
Purpose of the students’ association
12. Answers to these questions on value and effectiveness also revealed a fairly stark difference of opinion about what the students’ association is for. Several members of the executives said that they thought the association was effective because it’s a friendly space that is confidential, and that’s important because if a student doesn’t feel able to go to their guidance tutor, they can come to the students’ association instead. Another suggested that events on healthy living was one of the main purposes of the students’ association. One interviewee, when asked if the association is effective, said that it is one of the main ways in which the college promotes things to students.
13. Whilst none of these interpretations are strictly incorrect, they are peripheral to a students’ association’s core purpose which is the representation of students’ views and interests to the college and to other bodies in order to make things better for students.
14. NUS Scotland’s Student Association Impact Report showed that this is well understood by students at North East Scotland College, as 81% chose ‘representing the views of students to the college’ as a purpose of the association, by far the most popular response. In contrast, only 40% of students chose ‘running awareness campaigns on health and wellbeing’ as a purpose, the 7th most popular answer out of 8 options.
15. It’s concerning that some students see the association’s main purpose as helping individual students with a problem, and from talking to student officers and from visits to the association over the past 12 months, it does appear that the association is seen as a drop-in centre. This is problematic, for a number of reasons:
In terms of resource spent versus impact, individual representation is highly inefficient compared to collective representation such as lobbying, campaigns, or
representing students’ views at meetings. Individual representation will be taking up lots of time which could be better spent.
The focus on individual representation, as well as the need for student card and bus pass sales, has created a preoccupation with keeping the students’ association office open during core hours as a drop in centre, which may detract from other activity and does not allow the association to focus on delivering strategic and long term aims.
Individual representation doesn’t lend itself to creating a more engaged student membership, since it only involves a small number of people. Collective representation has the double benefit of also helping to create a more aware and active student body.
Student officers are not guidance tutors and are not qualified to give advice and guidance to students and therefore there are risks for the student, the association and the college if advice is being given by association staff or officers who do not have the appropriate qualifications.
It can cause duplication of effort with student support and service departments.
16. According to best practice across the sector student officers should only be taking up individual students’ cases in exceptional circumstances, usually at an appeals stage where there has been a failure in the process. The rest of the time they should be merely signposting. Students should not be encouraged to visit the students’ association in the first instance if they have a problem. If there is a desire amongst students for an advice and guidance service which is more independent from the college structures, this should be flagged up, and addressed by the college. The students’ association cannot run an ad-hoc advice service on its core budget.
Planning
17. Asked about how planning happens within the students’ association, over half of interviewees said that it doesn’t happen in any systematic way. Those that did mention planning referred to an informal ideas generation process, and events scheduling. When we asked the sabbaticals how they know what they need to do when they come in on a Monday morning, they both said they have to-do lists. Multiple interviewees referred to the students’ association as a reactive or ‘firefighting’ organisation. So much so, in fact, that all interviewees reported that there has been no attempt at self-evaluation using the Framework for the Development of Strong and Effective Students’ Associations in Scotland. Such a self-evaluation may have picked up many of the issues outlined in this report, and saved the association time and effort in the long run.
18. A lack of proactive planning has also prevented the students’ association from addressing the recommendations made in the Students’ Association Impact Research report last year. Several key areas of this review were highlighted in that research.
19. The association does have a strategic plan, but it was written last year. It’s not clear to what extent participants in the association were consulted during its creation, and the association could consider revisiting that plan. It was also clear from talking to interviewees about the strategy that it is rarely referred to, and there is little connection between the plan and the association’s day to day activity. Given the concerns above about perceptions of the purpose of the students’ association, a clear strategy would be a useful tool for the association and college to refocus on.
20. Karena mentioned the existence of an operational plan, however this was written
before she came into post which would indicate that it does not serve the required function as an operational plan, and is not regularly reviewed and updated.
21. NUS Scotland can run sessions to help the students’ association develop a strategic plan which accurately captures its purpose and strategic objectives, and subsequently an operational plan with milestones, named responsibilities and progress reports. Such a document may also help to reduce oversight burden, as the same document could be given to and discussed by multiple bodies.
22. The Student Association Manager and the sabbaticals have recently begun scheduling monthly meetings to discuss what’s happening in the association. This is a positive development, and thought should be given as to how to make the most of those meetings. Referring to and updating an operational plan would help to make the association a more proactive organisation.
Accountability of student officers
23. Formal accountability structures for student officers do exist, but appear quite weak. When asked how officers are held to account, most interviewees who were able to answer said it happened informally through individuals approaching the officer in question. Whilst exec meetings do happen monthly at Fraserburgh and Gallowgate, interviews indicated that their main purpose is volunteer co-ordination. The AGM is where students are able to hold officers to account, but last year very few students attended. Only Karena made reference to the Trustee Board as a potential forum for accountability.
24. Accountability by students is a common problem in even the most developed students’ associations. Often part of the problem is that communicating every decision taken and every position represented by the association is a difficult and time consuming task. Reporting back from every meeting would likely take as much time as the meetings themselves. When faced with apathy or lack of awareness amongst the student body, officers can also often find themselves in the strange position of having to encourage students to scrutinise their actions.
25. Developing an aware and active student body so that accountability happens more easily is a longer-term goal, but in the meantime the students’ association should consider internal mechanisms by which they can hold themselves and each other to account. For example, a well-maintained operational plan with milestones, named responsibilities, and progress reports, could be reviewed once a month by the exec teams, the trustee board and the sabbaticals and Student Association Manager. The sabbaticals and Student Association Manager should hold meetings to discuss what they’ve been doing since the last meeting, what they have planned for the next period, and horizon-scanning for upcoming priorities. Most college students’ associations do something like this at least fortnightly. Whilst the Student Association Manager is not the line manager of the sabbaticals, there is a role for students’ association staff in mentoring and supporting officers, and co-ordinating the SA’s main functions, which means they need to be aware of what officers are doing.
26. Another aspect of accountability that was discussed during the interviews was cross-campus accountability. The exec members at each main campus were
unaware of what the sabbatical at the other campus has been doing and there appear to be no accountability structures for students at campuses other than Gallowgate or Fraserburgh. Given that both sabbaticals are Regional Presidents, with regional responsibilities, this should be addressed through structures or practices.
Autonomy
27. Autonomy was the issue which prompted most discussion from interviewees. Members of college management were aware of their responsibilities to the students’ association, and the responsibility of the Board of Management to ensure that the association is effective, and that money is spent properly. They also clearly understood that autonomy means the college should allow the students’ association to develop and put across its own viewpoint without imposing its own.
28. However some interviewees said that autonomy was understood differently by different people within the college. Four interviewees said that they felt autonomy was used as an excuse for some parts of the college to distance themselves from the students’ association, particularly when things went wrong, and that it was sometimes a reason given for not offering required support. Two interviewees suggested that ‘self-direction’ may be a better way of understanding how a students’ association should relate to its college.
29. From an external perspective it does appear that concerns about autonomy may be impeding effective decision making in some cases. An illustrative example is the approach taken to the association’s recent difficulties with its accounts. The Board of Management has a duty to make sure that money is spent responsibly, and clearly had to take some action, and so attached conditions of grant to the association’s block grant asking that it presents quarterly accounts to the Board. Another solution could have been to explore how the college’s finance department could help, perhaps even integrating the association’s accounting into the college’s finance procedures and systems. Most college students’ associations operate in this way, and don’t for example hire an accountant to prepare their accounts, or manage their own purchase order requests or physically pay their own bills. At an association which handles a lot of cash, this is particularly difficult and time consuming, and integrating into the college’s finance processes and systems would be much more efficient.
30. Presumably this option wasn’t considered because it would be seen as an infringement on the association’s autonomy, perhaps relating to the association’s charitable status, but in fact there is very little autonomy in preparing your own accounts or arranging payment of your own bills, and if time and resource could be freed up to carry out activity closer to the association’s core purpose, one could argue that would add to the association’s autonomy rather than detract from it. We would recommend the association proposes exploring this option in more detail with college management. There may be implications for the association’s charitable status, which is discussed below.
31. On the other hand the officers and executive members said that sometimes they felt they did not have enough autonomy from the college, and that sometimes the college interfered in its activity. When asked for examples, they mentioned an event which members of college staff tried to stop happening, but which did eventually go ahead, and when they designed a new logo for the Association but
were told it was too similar to the college logo. Without knowing the full detail, it would be difficult to determine how serious these particular examples are, but they appear to be fairly peripheral to the association’s activity, and officers don’t appear to be prevented from speaking their minds. Nevertheless there is a perception that the college sometimes intrudes on the association’s autonomy.
32. One exec member said that often the college offers guidance, but this guidance comes across as very strong. One example which emerged from the interviews is the recent decision taken by the Board of Management to fund a particular structure of a Regional President and Regional Depute President. Whereas the Principal was very clear that the Board was expressing a preference, and that the association was free within its funding limits to decide its own structure, Karena interpreted this preference for a particular structure as a directive. In any case the Trustee Board also preferred that particular structure.
Funding and Sustainability
33. All interviewees were asked if they believed the association was sufficiently funded. Out of the 13 interviewees, 2 said that they didn’t know anything about the budget, 2 acknowledged the funding difficulties but said that the current funding level should be enough, and the remaining 9 said that they believed the students’ association was underfunded. Whilst none of the interviewees were under any illusions about the context of tight funding in the college sector, several interviewees remarked that the block grant to the association from the college was not enough to fund its core activity.
34. North East College Students’ Association is funded at a lower level compared to other students’ associations of its size. To compare with 2 students’ associations with similar student numbers and multiple campuses, City of Glasgow College Students’ Association received a block grant of at least £114,000 (this figure doesn’t account for on-costs like national insurance or pension, so it’s likely to be around £10,000 higher). Fife College Students’ Association reported a block grant of £105,000 last year, but since then has hired a new part time member of staff, which may have been funded in whole or part by the college. Neither of these associations have charitable status.
35. The number of students is only one factor which determines how much an association’s core activity will cost. Other factors to take into account are geography, services provided by the students’ association, and differences in running costs and overheads.
36. The association is also highly dependent on unstable income from sales of student cards, bus passes, and other merchandise. Without such income, it would struggle to carry out any activity that cost money. Some college students’ associations in Scotland make some additional income from the sale of NUS Extra cards, but none are anywhere near as dependent on sales income as North East Scotland College Students’ Association. The two interviewees who said the current level of funding should be enough also said that the students’ association needs to find additional sources of revenue, and that they’ve not managed to make a big enough margin on sales. This indicates that they may believe sales to be a common way of funding a students’ association, which it is not.
37. As the Framework for the Development of Strong and Effective College Students’ Associations in Scotland makes clear, a sustainable students’ association “does
not mean the association is self-funding; a students’ association reliant entirely on commercial activity would be very unsustainable as funding could never be guaranteed, and commercial efforts would leave little time for the association to deliver its representative purpose. The college will need to ensure that the students’ association has the resources and support it needs to function effectively.”
38. This dependence on sales causes a number of problems for the association. As it is not a business, and the association personnel are not business managers, there are a lack of appropriate skills and infrastructure in place to make sure that sales are run effectively. This may have been a contributing factor to the difficulties which the association has faced with its accounts.
39. The sabbatical officers and volunteers at Gallowgate seemingly spend the first month of term selling student cards, during a period of time which is very valuable in terms of setting the tone for student engagement throughout the year. There is also a preoccupation with keeping the association office open, not only as a drop-in centre for students who may have problems, but also in order to maximise sales. This, and the back-office functions required to run a sales operation, take up a large amount of officer, staff and volunteer time, and it detracts from the ability of the association to carry out its core purpose. In the hour long interview with Karena, we were interrupted 3 times by students buying bus passes. If the amount of working time taken away from the association’s core activity by sales, purchasing, handling cash, invoicing, and accounting is taken into account, we would estimate that the net benefit would be significantly reduced.
40. Furthermore, a significant amount of this sales income is about to be lost. The college will soon be issuing matriculation cards to students itself, which means the association will lose around £20,000 per year from selling student cards. In addition, some interviewees informed us that the college is currently considering pairing its matriculation card with a deal from Young Scot, which whilst useful for students, would mean the association may lose further income from bus passes and NUS Extra cards. The college has however increased the association’s block grant by £10,000 for 2016/7, relative to the funding received from the SFC’s transformation fund for 2015/6.
41. Whilst the college’s funding difficulties are not insignificant, we recommend that the association’s block grant is reviewed and increased. The SFC’s letter to principals in May recommended a block grant of £75,000 to £85,000 for a small college with a single campus and a small geographical footprint, and that colleges with multiple campuses, larger student populations, and/or a disparate geographical spread would need to consider the additional resources required to ensure a strong association with effective representation in place.
Charitable status and trustee board
42. The funding difficulties are particularly pronounced when you take into account the association’s charitable status. Maintaining a charitable organisation takes a certain amount of resource because of the higher levels of oversight and reporting required. Some resource is required to run an effective trustee board and to ensure that accounts are properly audited, and some additional expense occurs from having separate legal status, for example insurance. The only other
college students’ association with charitable status is Edinburgh College Students’ Association, whose block grant for the last 2 years has been £274,667 per year, and which has a much higher staffing complement including a Students’ Association Director with responsibility for servicing the trustee board. Whilst ECSA has been given by far the most generous block grant amongst college associations, and North East Scotland College Students’ Association isn’t expected to match that, some of that extra funding is due to the resource needed to maintain an effective charitable organisation.
43. Where interviewees brought up charitable status, they were asked what they believed was the benefit of charitable status to the association. The responses were that it provided a degree of organisational autonomy from the college, and that the trustee board gave an external source of advice and oversight. NUS Scotland sees charitable status for college students’ associations as a positive (albeit longer term) goal, as we agree that it does provide a degree of organisational autonomy if the college board of management and senior management team can have confidence that the trustee board provides effective oversight. However in some cases the cost/benefit of charitable status is limited, particularly if it increases overhead costs or discourages support from college departments which may be conscious of the association’s status. If overheads such as the time and cost of doing accounts, insurance and auditing cannot be reduced significantly within the association’s current legal framework, we would recommend giving serious consideration to reviewing this with a view to remove charitable status, whilst maintaining the trustee board in an advisory capacity.
44. The effectiveness of the trustee board itself was also a topic of discussion. Most interviewees agreed that although its current membership is very new and still finding its feet, the trustee board was largely effective. However some suggestions for improving its function included:
Strengthening induction processes, so that all trustees are aware of their purpose, responsibility and liability.
Carrying out a skills audit of the board, and potentially increasing its membership.
Establishing a schedule of meetings at the beginning of the year. Additional meetings can be scheduled at shorter notice if necessary.
Establishing one chair for the board instead of two. The chair’s responsibilities continue outside of meetings, and having two chairs may mean either that their work is duplicated, or that some responsibilities fall through the gaps.
Ensuring that the appropriate issues are being discussed at board level, ie that all important issues are discussed in full at the board, and that the board’s time isn’t wasted with more trivial matters.
Student Association Manager Role
45. All interviewees acknowledged that the turnover in the Student Association Manager role in the past has not worked for the association as intended, however all interviewees were complimentary of each of the individuals who have held the role, and said that the current Student Association Manager Allison Lamont was adapting to her new role very well.
46. There is a difference of opinion amongst interviewees about what the purpose of the Student Association Manager role is. Whilst nobody disagreed that the role is to support the students’ association, there were some differences of opinion over what activity that entails in practice. Rob Wallen and Gillian Griffin referred to producing accounts as one of the main purposes of the manager role, however Allison Lamont and Elaine Hart were very clear that the manager spends too much time producing accounts, dealing with auditors and insurance, and paying bills, and Allison said she sometimes felt like a more appropriate job title would be ‘accounts assistant’. This was supported by statements by Kirsty and Karena who thought the Student Association Manager should play a more active part in supporting their representative role.
47. Asked what the Student Association Manager should be doing more of which they currently don’t have time to do, answers included direct support for officers’ representative role, volunteer co-ordination, training (both staff and officers), organisational development and strategy, and coaching/mentoring student officers.
48. When asked whether they felt that the Student Association Manager is part of the students’ association, the executive officers at Gallowgate very quickly answered that she isn’t. This was quite surprising, as it was anticipated that this would be a difficult question, as whilst the manager is clearly not a member of the students’ association, she does work towards association objectives, and from an external perspective is a member of student association staff, although the college is her employer.
49. When prompted for more detail, it became clear that the manager is seen more as a college advisor, and concern was expressed that if there was ever a dispute between the association and the college, the Student Association Manager would be put in a difficult position because they would have conflicting responsibilities. The fact that the Student Association Manager has been based outside the association office appears from their comments to contribute to this view. Allison also said she would like to be able to spend more time working in the association office, but that the layout of the office and its function as a drop-in centre would hinder effective working.
50. Questions were also raised about the recruitment process for the Student Association Manager role. In Allison’s case the desire not to leave a gap in support meant that a secondment was arranged very quickly, and steps including the involvement of the officers and trustee board were missed. The trustee board and officers were only informed of Allison’s secondment after it had happened. It was acknowledged by all that this should be avoided in future if possible.
51. Recruiting for students’ association staff roles is very difficult, particularly in the college students’ association sector where staff are often the only member of staff in the organisation and have a wide variety of responsibilities. Strategic development, volunteer and officer coaching, campaign planning, familiarity with the education sector, accounting and running a trustee board are, taken together, an unusual skills profile. As recommended above, the association and college could make this somewhat easier by exploring which elements of the association’s finance process could be integrated into the college’s systems. Secondment and internal recruitment processes also reduce the available recruitment pool.
52. Student Association Managers seconded or recruited internally have also retained some responsibilities from their previous roles. In Allison’s case this is understandable as the secondment is quite short term, but it was also the case when Stephen Smith held the post. This arrangement creates more pressures on the time of the Student Association Manager, and may also contribute to the perception highlighted above that the manager is a college member of staff with an advisory role, who may have conflicting responsibilities if there were ever a dispute between the college and association.
53. We recommend that the next time the Student Association Manager role is recruited, the officers and trustee board are involved where appropriate, and that the role is also advertised externally. NUS Scotland are also able to assist with creating a job description and person specification, and sharing the advertisement through our networks. We would also be happy to be involved at selection stage, if that would be helpful.
Sabbatical roles
54. The sabbatical roles were also a topic which prompted some discussion. The association is currently changing its sabbatical structure, but we focused the discussion on the structure as it currently stands, so that interviewees were able to reflect on what has already happened.
55. Some discussion focused on what tasks the sabbatical officers do, and whether those tasks are appropriate. Most interviewees who expressed a view on this topic agreed that in general the sabbaticals should be doing less operational work, and should be doing more student-facing work. Both sabbaticals agreed that they currently do far too much paperwork, including for example constitution and schedules, plans, internal reports, reports to various college committees, request forms, committee papers, invoices, cashing up as well as day to day emails and administration. The executive members and Karena both suggested independently that paperwork takes up about 80% of her working time, and the rest of the time is mostly events and meetings. Kirsty also reported a high level of paperwork, but although she didn’t put a number next to the volume, she also mentioned quite a lot of other activity so it didn’t appear to be quite as high as 80%. This high level of operational work was also confirmed by other interviewees. Nobody thought that the sabbaticals should do no paperwork at all, but it was commonly felt that the current level was too high.
56. An ideal students’ association would operate similarly to the civil service, where elected members are making decisions to direct the work of the association, undertaking public or student-facing engagement, defending the record of the association, and being held accountable for that work, although most of the operational delivery is carried out by staff. However such a clean division of work is rarely possible in any students’ association, and particularly in small students’ associations where resource constraints mean that student officers often do need to carry out operational work.
57. As outlined above, a particular feature of North East Scotland College Students’ Association is that sales and student advice drop-ins represent a large proportion of the association’s activity. Kirsty mentioned that she has recently had a higher number of students dropping into the office because one of the guidance tutors has been absent. We would reiterate as outlined above that we don’t consider it appropriate for student officers to be operating an ad-hoc advice service. Moving
away from this kind of activity where possible, and moving away from a funding model reliant on sales, would free up a significant amount of sabbatical time to focus on activity that adds value.
Geography
58. The geographical spread of the sabbaticals was also discussed. Opinions amongst interviewees were very divided about whether the association should move away from a campus-based model towards a regional model. Whereas the sabbaticals are regional presidents, one officer will continue to be based in the north of the region, and one in the south, and there are still 2 campus executives rather than one student association structure. The only truly regional structures are the AGM and the trustee board.
59. Whilst there was a desire amongst many interviewees to see one regional student association structure, most interviewees didn’t think that 2 students from one part of the region would be able to adequately represent students in another part of the region. Kirsty and the executive members at Fraserburgh were particularly adamant that there is a different culture at Fraserburgh which is a valuable asset to the association, and which shouldn’t be wasted by moving towards a more regional model. There continues to be a feeling amongst student officers at both main campuses that the merger was a large college ‘taking over’ a smaller college, and this may have contributed to an unhealthy protectiveness which is outlined in more detail below.
60. Almost all interviewees said that the officers needed to travel to other campuses more often, although some were quick to highlight practical constraints such as resource and time, which are not insignificant. Kirsty mentioned that she had never visited Altens, Peterhead or MacDuff campuses, and Karena also said that she rarely goes to the north of the region, and rarely goes to Craibstone campus either. There was an acknowledgement that they should visit other campuses more often.
61. From our professional perspective although we agree that the sabbatical officers should visit other campuses more often, simply spending a day at a campus once in a while does very little to help an officer to represent those students more effectively. What is much more concerning is that there is no representational structure at any campus other than Gallowgate and Fraserburgh, except for one volunteer executive member from Altens campus. Implementing such structures is not easy, but it would have a much better effect on the ability of officers to represent those campuses, and on the service provision level for students at those campuses.
Sabbatical working relationship
62. Some interviewees said that the lack of hierarchy amongst the sabbaticals meant that disagreements couldn’t be resolved. Although the new structure includes a hierarchy, we would caution the students’ association that this is unlikely to resolve all problems in this area. In most students’ associations, most disagreements are not resolved through hierarchy, but by recourse to democratic structures such as executives and class reps, where this is appropriate. If disagreements are consistently resolved through hierarchy, the person who is on the ‘losing side’ of those disagreements (ie the Regional Depute President) is
likely to become resentful and disengaged, which is not conducive to effective working.
63. The lack of effective regional structure or regional culture has led to a protective attitude on the part of the sabbaticals towards their campus. Both raised independently a recent disagreement where Karena had travelled to Fraserburgh to talk to students in the atrium about a welfare issue, without consulting Kirsty.
64. Such disagreements are relatively common amongst officers who are often elected because they have strong opinions, and it may have been exacerbated by tensions before the upcoming elections, so it should not be concluded from this example that there is a poor working relationship between the sabbaticals. However the example does indicate a campus-based protectiveness which may be unconducive to effective working. Karena and Kirsty are both Regional Presidents, with regional remits. Whilst it may have been polite for Karena to consult Kirsty, and Kirsty may have been able to advise her on the best day and time to come, and provide a context for the activity to ensure a joined up approach, Karena certainly shouldn’t need permission to travel to another campus to carry out her regional role, as appears to have been implied in conversations about this disagreement. We would recommend that the association clarifies these issues through a full and frank discussion, with the interests of the effective working of the association at the forefront of that discussion.
Class representatives
65. Although it was not included in the brief for the review, it became apparent through the interviews that there is a lack of clarity over the ownership and functioning of the class representative system. Kirsty mentioned in her interview that a class rep had told her that they were attending a staff-student liaison meeting in their department, but Kirsty didn’t know what this meeting was for, which indicates that there is a distance between the students’ association and the class rep system. But as an example of the college infringing on the autonomy of the students’ association, Karena brought up the fact that the Academic Board wanted to introduce a new tier of representatives, and in that way was trying to tell the association what to do. That would indicate that Karena considers the class reps to be wholly within the students’ association. This difference may indicate a difference in practice between Fraserburgh and Gallowgate which is yet to be resolved following the merger.
66. We would recommend that the function of the class representative system, and its relationship to the students’ association, is clarified through discussion with the college quality department. Since a well-functioning class representative system is a core part of the college’s quality systems, and something considered during external review, it is common for the class rep system to be owned by the college. The students’ association should be able to help shape the class rep system just as it would any other aspect of college life. Involving the students’ association in training class reps may also be a good idea, but since this saves the college resource it should be considered in the block grant negotiations. Most importantly and as outlined in the framework, the class rep system should also feed into the students’ association, as it is a key way in which the association can represent students’ views particularly on academic matters. The student engagement agency sparqs will be able to advise and assist in this area.
Appendix A: Recommendations
1. The funding model for the students’ association should be reassessed, and its level of funding should be increased to a minimum of £100,000. (Paragraph 39)
2. The students’ association should take the summer period as an opportunity to re-
evaluate its purpose and its priorities, and consider any areas of work which could be scaled back, simplified or eliminated, particularly administrative burden. As part of this process it should revisit the strategic plan. (Paragraph 18)
3. The students’ association should develop an operational plan which outlines how
it intends to achieve each of its strategic objectives, assigns responsibilities and milestones to officers and staff, and requires updates on progress throughout the year. The sabbaticals and Student Association Manager should meet at least monthly to discuss progress against the plan. (Paragraphs 20 and 21)
4. The students’ association should address its lack of representative structures at
campuses other than Gallowgate and Fraserburgh. If a class representative system exists at those other campuses, it may be fruitful to tie those structures into the students’ association. (Paragraph 59)
5. The students’ association should consider how it can develop a regional
democratic structure which would enable cross-campus accountability, and help to promote one regional culture. (Paragraph 25)
6. The students’ association should consider how work is carried out across the
region, and how campus based responsibilities interact with regional remit-based responsibilities such as welfare, education and events. (Paragraph 62)
7. The students’ association should move away from serving as a drop-in centre for
individual students with a particular problem (who should be signposted towards guidance), and move towards representing students collectively in a more proactive fashion. (Paragraphs 15 and 16)
8. Depending on the result of conversations about the association’s funding, the
students’ association should consider moving to a sales operation which is not labour-intensive for officers and staff, such as online, or if that is not possible, consider dropping its sales operation. (Paragraphs 35 to 39)
9. The association should open discussions with the college about whether any of its
functions could be integrated into the college systems for greater efficiency without significant loss of autonomy. The priority for integration should be financial systems. (Paragraphs 28 and 29)
10. The students’ association should consider the advantages and disadvantages of
its charitable status, and whether losing its charitable status would be of longer term benefit. (Paragraphs 40 and 41)
11. The students’ association and college should set up a small working group to
carry out a light-touch self-evaluation against the Framework for the Development of Strong and Effective College Students’ Associations in Scotland. (Paragraph 17)
12. The students’ association should consider ways in which its trustee board can be
strengthened, including (paragraph 42):
a. Strengthening induction processes, so that all trustees are aware of their purpose, responsibility and liability.
b. Carrying out a skills audit of the board, and potentially increasing its membership.
c. Establishing a schedule of meetings at the beginning of the year. Additional meetings can be scheduled at shorter notice if necessary.
d. Establishing one chair for the board instead of two. The chair’s responsibilities continue outside of meetings, and having two chairs may mean either that their work is duplicated, or that some responsibilities fall through the gaps.
e. Ensuring that the appropriate issues are being discussed at board level, ie that all important issues are discussed in full at the board, and that the board’s time isn’t wasted with more trivial matters.
13. If a decision is taken to recruit a new Students’ Association Manager, we
recommend that officers and the trustee board are involved where appropriate, and that the role is also advertised externally. NUS Scotland are also able to assist with creating a job description and person specification, and sharing the advertisement through our networks. We would also be happy to be involved at selection stage, if that would be helpful. (Paragraph 51)
14. The students’ association should consider steps which could be taken to ensure that the Student Association Manager is seen as part of the students’ association by officers and volunteers, and that the role exists to support the association achieve its objectives, rather than advise from a college perspective. (Paragraph 47)
15. The students’ association and college quality department should together consider
the effectiveness of the class representative system, its coverage across all campuses, and its relationship to the students’ association. (Paragraph 64)
Appendix B: Questions asked of interviewees
1. What is your general opinion of the overall effectiveness of the students’ association? Can you think of any examples of where the students’ association has made a significant difference to the student experience?
2. Student association autonomy is one of the principles within the Framework. What does autonomy mean to you, and how does it work here at this college? (follow–up questions around financial procedures, representation structures, organisational autonomy).
3. Do you believe the students’ association is accountable to students, and how does that accountability happen in practice?
4. Do you believe the students’ association is funded to an appropriate level and in a sustainable way?
5. Do you see the value of the students’ association, and do you think students see that value?
6. Is the Student Association Manager role currently working well? What activity is it doing that it shouldn’t be, and what is it not doing which it could do?
7. Are the sabbatical roles (that are currently in place) suitable? a. What do they do on a day to day basis? Is that how it should be? b. Currently one officer is elected from Fraserburgh/North, and one is elected
from Aberdeen/South. Is this appropriate? c. Currently there are 2 Regional Presidents. Is a horizontal structure like
that appropriate?
8. What is your impression of the effectiveness of governance and planning at the students’ association?
a. Is the Trustee Board effective? b. How does the students’ association plan its activity, formally or informally?
9. Have you been involved in any meetings or activity to develop the students’
association alongside the Framework for the Development of Strong and Effective College Students’ Associations?
10. Do you have anything to add, either about something we’ve discussed so far, or
about anything else you think might be relevant to the review?
Agenda Item 6.6 Appendix 2
Learning & Teaching and Student Services Committee Meeting of 19 July 2016 North East Scotland College Students’ Association Review by the National Union of Students and Budget Paper from the Chair of the Student Association Trustee Board 1. Introduction 1.1 The purpose of this paper is for the Trustee Board of the Student’s Association
(SA) to update the Committee following a Review of the Association by the National Union of Students (NUS) and also to present an update of the budget forecast for 2016/17.
2. Review of Student’s Association 2.1 Following the merger and a significant period of change for the Student
Association, there was little way of discerning how well the SA was performing and there was a lack of clarity as to how best to effectively implement the Framework for the Development of Strong and Effective Students’ Associations in Scotland (previously circulated to the Committee). Therefore the Trustee Board agreed that the NUS would be approached for an external perspective.
2.2 Following discussions, the Trustee Board agreed that an appropriate starting point would be for NUS Scotland to conduct an independent review of the SA.
2.3 The purpose of the review was not to form any judgement about the SA but rather to explore the difficulties which the SA has faced in recent times and to produce recommendations for consideration by the SA and the College.
2.4 The review was structured around the Framework and it was agreed that it would focus on the following areas:
• Accountability (Governance and Democracy) • Student Association Management role (Sustainable Resources) • Perspectives on the value of the Students’ Association (Value and
Impact) • Funding (Sustainable Resources) • Trustee Board (Governance and Democracy) • Planning (Governance and Democracy, Value and Impact) • Relationship with College Structures (Shaping the Life and Work of the
College)
2.3 The Review has produced helpful recommendations most of which are concerned with the SA’s operational management, strategic planning and democratic structures. These will be taken forward by the Student Association Manager and the Trustee Board.
2.4 For the purposes of this report, therefore, the Trustee Board wish to bring to the attention of the Committee the following recommendations.
• “The funding model for the association should be reassessed and its level of funding should be increased to a minimum of £100,000”.
• “The SA should open discussions with the college about whether any of its functions could be integrated into college systems for greater efficiency without significant loss of autonomy.”
• “The SA should consider the advantages and disadvantages of its
charitable status, and whether losing its charitable status would be of longer term benefit.”
2.4 Each recommendation will be discussed in detail below: 3. Funding Model
3.1 Firstly, it is necessary to state that whilst the NUS advises that NESCol’s SA is
funded at a lower level than other SAs of its size, the Trustee Board fully appreciates the funding constraints under which the College is operating and is not requesting an increase in block grant for this year.
3.2 It is important, however, that the SA is able to utilise the funds it does have to the best advantage of the students of the college and that the Committee is fully appraised of the concerns that the Trustee Board has regarding the budget of the SA.
3.3 Attached at Appendix 1 is the current 16/17 budget forecast (Column B). From this it can be noted that there is currently a predicted deficit of -£6,006.47. This is due to the need to make adjustments to the 16/17 forecast which was presented to the Committee in January 2016 (Column A). It should also be noted that there may be further adjustments that need to be made for the reasons stated in 3.4 and 3.5 below which may mean a higher deficit.
3.4 There are significant reductions in income that need to be taken into account for 16/17, some of which were predicted eg the loss of £20,000 revenue from the sale of Student Cards, but others which the SA were unaware of, eg the introduction by the College of the NEC/Young Scot Card. This card will have other significant impacts on the income of the SA as it will reduce its sale of bus passes and NUS Extra cards due to the fact that it offers comparable discounts.
3.5 In addition, the running costs of the SA have increased. The fact that its accounts are qualified incur significant additional accounting and audit costs and there is also a need to pay for insurances which has not happened before. As an unincorporated charity the SA is ineligible to be part of the Local Government Pension Scheme. This means that it will have to provide a Stakeholder Pension. At the time of writing this paper the costs of this have not been confirmed and therefore additional costs will need to be added in to the budget. It is also likely that the forecast audit and accounting costs will increase.
3.6 It is also important to note that this budget forecast fully utilises the SA’s reserves. There may be small surplus from 15/16 which will offset some of the deficit.
3.7 The NUS Review notes that the SA is “highly dependent on unstable income from the sale of student cards, bus passes and other merchandise”. They also note that “without this income it would struggle to carry out any activity that costs money ... some College SAs make some additional income from the sale of NUS Extra cards, but none are anywhere near as dependent on sales income as NESCol SA”. It continues “… this is not a common way of funding a SA … as The Framework makes clear a sustainable SA ‘does not mean the association is self-funding; a students’ association reliant entirely on commercial activity would be very unsustainable as funding could never be guaranteed, and any commercial efforts would leave little time for the association to deliver is representative purpose. The college will need to ensure that the SA has the resources and support it needs to function effectively’”.
3.8 The Trustee Board has carefully reviewed the budget and asked the President and the SA Manager to try to identify savings. It will, however, be very difficult to find enough savings to both remove the deficit and provide enough income to run an effective SA.
3.9 The fact that the SA is set up as an unincorporated charity means that it is incurring costs that it would not incur if it were part of the College. This will be discussed in more depth later in this paper.
4. Integration with College Systems and Autonomy Issues
4.1 The Trustee Board notes, and is extremely grateful, for the significant support
that the College already offers the SA without which it would not be able to operate.
4.2 Autonomy has been a key concern of both SA Officers, the Trustee Board and the College management and it was therefore very helpful to gain the NUS’s perspective on this matter.
4.3 The Framework describes an autonomous students association as “… one which enables students to articulate an independent student voice, and which can ensure that voice will be heard at the highest levels. Students determine its internal organisation and representative structures. Student representatives act according to student determined priorities and policies and engage with college leaders as equal partners to negotiate how these priorities will be implemented”. It goes on to state that “Autonomy will mean different things to different students’ associations at different stages of development; some will want to develop as separate organisations, others will be more comfortable with a greater degree of closeness with the college. As the principles outlined in this Framework are embedded, self-determination will develop and grow”.
4.4 The NUS’s view is that “from an external perspective it does appear that concerns about autonomy may be impeding effective decision making in some cases …. An illustrative example is the approach taken to the association’s recent difficulties with its accounts. The Board of Management
has a duty to make sure that money is spent reasonably, and clearly had to take some action, and so attached conditions of grant to the association’s block grant … another solution could have been to explore how the College’s Finance Department could help, perhaps even integrating the association’s accounting into the college’s finance procedures and systems. Most college students associations operate in this way …. As an association which handles a lot of cash … this would be much more efficient … Presumably this option wasn’t considered because it would be seen as an infringement on the associations autonomy, perhaps relating to its charitable status, but in fact there is very little autonomy in preparing your own accounts or arranging payment of bills and if time and resource could be freed up to carry out activity closer to the association’s core purpose, one could argue that it would add to the association’s autonomy rather than detract from it”.
4.5 It is important to consider, therefore, the current stage of development of the SA. It is the view of the Trustee Board that the SA is not yet in a robust position and therefore welcomes a greater degree of closeness with the College.
4.6 The Trustee Board therefore respectfully requests that consideration is given to the College’s Finance Team providing support to the association. This would give the Trustee Board greater confidence that accounting issues are being dealt with in a professional and timely manner and will also relieve some £6,000 of accountants cost to the SA per annum.
5. Charitable Status
5.1 As mentioned in 3.8 above, the SA is an unincorporated charity and therefore as a charitable organisation requires a certain amount of resource due to the higher levels of oversight and reporting required. Some resource is required to run an effective Trustee Board and to ensure that accounts are properly audited and some additional expense occurs from having separate legal status, for example insurances and audit costs. As a separate organisation to the College the SA therefore incurs the running costs of a small business. These costs are a significant drain on a very small budget.
5.2 The NUS note that the only other College with an SA with charitable status is Edinburgh College which is set up very differently and whose block grant for the last two years has been £274,667 pa. It should be noted that Edinburgh College have a much higher staffing compliment including an SA Director with responsibility for servicing the Trustee Board. The SA is not, of course, looking to be funded to this extent or to increase its staffing.
5.3 The NUS also state that they see charitable status as a “positive (albeit longer term) goal, as we agree that it does provide a degree of organisational autonomy, if the college board of management and senior management team can have confidence that the trustee board provides effective oversight. The report continues. “However, in some cases the cost/benefit of charitable status is limited, particularly if it increases overhead costs or discourages support from college departments which may be conscious of the association’s status. If overheads such as time and cost of doing accounts, insurance and auditing cannot be reduced significantly within the associations current legal framework we would recommend giving serious consideration to
reviewing this with a view to removing charitable status whilst maintaining the trustee board in an advisory capacity”.
5.4 As an unincorporated association, the SA has ambiguous legal status, it is merely a collection of individual members. This causes a number of difficulties in terms of the employment of sabbatical officers and the risks the association might face in terms of legal claims against it.
5.5 The Trustee Board has therefore requested that the implications and costs of dissolving the SA’s charitable status are explored further. Once this information is available the Trustee Board will consider and report further to the Committee as to its conclusions.
6. Conclusion 6.1 The Trustee Board therefore asks the Committee to note/consider the following:
6.2 That it has significant concerns about the 2016/17 Budget which, despite
measures being taken to control costs, is currently forecasting a deficit due to factors beyond the SA’s control.
6.3 That all of the SA’s reserves will be utilised.
6.4 These financial constraints mean that there is little scope to grow the association in the coming year.
6.5 That consideration is given to providing support to the Association from the College’s Finance Team to both reduce cost and enhance the financial expertise and support available to the SA.
6.6 That the Trustee Board is taking further advice on the desirability of the SA
continuing to operate as an unincorporated charity.
7. Recommendation 7.1 That the Committee note the content of this report. Michele Collie Chairman of the Trustee Board North East Scotland College Students Association
154
Ag
end
a Ite
m 6.6
Ap
pe
ndix 3
Stude
nts' Asso
cia
tion Bud
ge
t Fore
ca
st Aug
ust 2016-July 2017 and
Ac
tual 2015/16
AB
CFo
rec
ast Bud
ge
t Ag
ree
d b
y LTSCC
Ja
nuary 2016 Ba
sed
on £80K
blo
ck
gra
ntA
djustm
ents to
16/17 Fore
ca
st - as
at 31.5.16
Ac
tual 2015/16
No
tes
Inco
me
Bloc
k Gra
nt
£80,000.00£80,000.00
£70,000.00
Bus Pa
ss Sale
s£1,500.00
£1,000.00£2,336.00
Stud
en
t Ca
rd Sa
les
£0.00£0.00
£20,380.00N
US Extra
£4,600.00£1,500.00
£3,215.80C
loth
ing
an
d p
en
drive
s£500.00
£500.00£526.00
Fresh
ers Fa
ir£2,000.00
£1,000.00£1,350.00
Frase
rbu
rgh
ac
co
un
t-ca
rried
forw
ard
£0.00£0.00
£1,350.00R
ese
rved
Ac
co
un
ts£16,049.00
£16,052.00£16,052.66
Tota
l Inco
me
£104,649.00£100,052.00
£115,210.46
Co
re Exp
end
itureSA
Ma
na
ge
r£35,000.00
£42,416.47inc
luding
on-c
osts
Sab
ba
tica
l Offic
er Sa
larie
s£41,000.00
£35,342.00£78,567.00
Further a
djustm
ent m
ay b
e
nee
de
d to
take
ac
co
unt of
stake
hold
er p
ensio
nA
ffiliatio
n£4,000.00
£2,000.00£1,765.00
Ac
co
un
tan
cy
£3,300.00£5,000.00
£6,000.00In
sura
nc
es
£1,000.00A
ud
it£5,400.00
£8,000.00£11,526.00
Tota
l Co
re Exp
end
iture£88,700.00
£93,758.47£97,858.00
Stud
en
t Even
ts£1,000.00
£500.00£615.00
Stud
en
t Clu
bs a
nd
Soc
ietie
s £500.00
£0.00Tru
stee
Boa
rd£200.00
£200.00£0.00
NU
S Even
ts an
d a
l train
ing
s£4,000.00
£5,000.00£5,160.00
Offic
e Su
pp
lies a
nd
Statio
ne
ry£1,500.00
£1,000.00£3,526.00
Trave
l be
twe
en
ca
mp
use
s£2,500.00
£700.00£669.00
Elec
tion
s £300.00
£300.00£224.00
Un
forse
en
Co
sts£1,200.00
£2,000.00£1,500.00
Ban
k ch
arg
es
£100.00£500.00
£500.00Prin
ter
£1,500.00£2,000.00
£1,922.00M
arke
ting
Co
sts£500.00
Ca
terin
g£200.00
£100.00£30.00
Tota
l Othe
r Expe
nditure
£13,500.00£12,300.00
£14,146.00
Tota
l Expe
nditure
£102,200.00
£106,058.47£112,004.00
Tota
l Surplus /D
efic
it£2,449.00
-£6,006.47£3,206.46
This surplus is no
t yet
co
nfirme
d
Othe
r Expe
nditure
These
figure
s are
not ye
t c
om
ple
te
156
157
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 6.7
Report from the Students’ Association
1. Introduction1.1. The purpose of this report is to provide the Committee with an opportunity to consider a
report from the Students’ Association.
2. Report from the Presidents2.1. Attached as Appendix 1 to this paper is a report prepared by Karena Wetherall and Kirsty
Anderson regarding the North East Scotland College Students’ Association.
3. Recommendation3.1. It is recommended that the Committee consider the contents of the report.
Rob Wallen Elaine HartPrincipal Vice Principal – Human Resources
158
North East Scotland College, Room EG4, Gallowgate City Campus, Aberdeen, AB25 1BN 01224 612024 | 01224 612313
Agenda Item 6.7 Appendix 1
LEARNING AND TEACHING AND STUDENT SERVICES COMMITTEE Meeting of 19th July 2016 Students’ Association 1. Introduction
1.1. The purpose of this paper is to provide the committee with an update on the work of the
Students’ Association (SA).
2. Background 2.1. Since the last meeting the SA has been busy with events, student engagement and in obtaining
student feedback in terms of Learning and Teaching.
3. Update 3.1. Student Engagement
3.1.1. We have had a range of opportunities to engage with the student body through the process of Elections, promoting voting and through student events.
3.2. Elections 3.2.1.1. Elections have taken placed and the results of the election was:
• A total of 413 votes were cast with 19 abstentions.
• Round 1: • R.O.N. -‐ 3 • Jolanta Beniusyte -‐ 49 • Kieran Ellington -‐ 68 • Josh Gall -‐ 69 • Shane Hepburn -‐ 100 • Karena Wetherall – 105
• Round 2 -‐ Single Transferrable Votes: • Gallowgate • Kieran Ellington -‐ 160 • Karena Wetherall -‐ 165 • Karena Wetherall duly elected in Gallowgate.
• Fraserburgh: • RON -‐ 9 • Jolanta Beniusyte -‐ 88 • Josh Gall -‐ 110 • Shane Hepburn – 134 • Shane Hepburn duly elected in Fraserburgh.
North East Scotland College, Room EG4, Gallowgate City Campus, Aberdeen, AB25 1BN 01224 612024 | 01224 612313
• Final Round: • Karena Wetherall -‐ 179 • Shane Hepburn -‐ 157 • Karena Wetherall duly elected as Regional President. Shane Hepburn duly elected as Depute President.
Since these results were made known there has been a change to the election outcome. Shane Hepburn will not be taking up the position of Depute President and will be returning to college for study. Shane’s votes have been transferred between the remaining candidates and the votes read:
• Josh Gall -‐ 164 • Jolanta Beniusyte -‐ 133 • RON -‐ 14
The position has been offered to Josh Gall as the candidate elected by the student body through the democratic process and Josh has accepted this position. Josh is engaging in work shadowing during the month of June in anticipation of taking up his post on July 1st.
3.3. Events 3.3.1. Events that have been held since the last report:
3.3.1.1. Gallowgate held a Retro Gaming Day on the 25th April 2016. This sparked interest in
this particular type of event being held in again in college and students engaged with the SA by giving opinion on what they would like to see in the next gaming event. Some of the suggestions included holding a similar event with retro and more current games.
3.3.1.2. Fraserburgh held a Harry Potter themed event on 9th May 2016. This was the last SA event of the Academic Year, and a chance for students to have a fun day at College, as well as raise money for Bob’s Buddies.
3.3.1.3. Learning Opportunities Students on Fraserburgh Campus were rewarded for their volunteering activities within the Student Association as part of their awards day and were presented with certificates by Kirsty Anderson.
3.3.1.4. Students in Fraserburgh Campus took part in a Lecturer of the Year vote and awards were given to Curriculum and Guidance staff voted for by the students.
3.4. Annual General Meeting (“AGM”)
3.4.1. The AGM was held on the 31st May 2016 and we are pleased to say that a quorate was reached We also had 4 motions in which 3 out of the 4 passed which were:
3.4.1.1. Wheels Please – where the students voted in favour of a motion asking the SA to approach the college to support an approach to the council to see if we could negotiate cheaper car parking for students who have to take their car to college.
3.4.1.2. Climate Mate -‐ where the students voted in favour of a motion asking the SA to work with the college to make sure that there are appropriate recycling bins in the eating and restroom areas.
3.4.1.3. Fuse to Reuse – where the motion suggested a need for student awareness raising to about recycling. This motion was not carried as it was felt that this was not the remit of the SA but it was agreed that having the right type of recycling bins in the correct areas might be the way forward.
North East Scotland College, Room EG4, Gallowgate City Campus, Aberdeen, AB25 1BN 01224 612024 | 01224 612313
3.4.1.4. Safe Rave -‐ where the students have voted in favour of asking the SA to approach the college and its members to and the college to work with local authority and bus companies to highlight the issues disabled students face to get to the different campuses.
All this will be added to the up and coming Strategic plan. 3.4.2. The SA Constitution and Schedules were adopted for the forthcoming year along with the
students voting not go for a referendum this year on staying with NUS.
3.5. Peer Led Reviews 3.5.1. The Students’ Association Sabbaticals officers engaged in a series of Peer Led reviews on
Fraserburgh, Altens and City Centre campuses gaining and recording feedback from students through a series of exercises and discussions focusing on Learning and Teaching, Relationships, Resources, Learning Environment and Learner Support in Applied Science, Care, Construction, Art and Design, Engineering and Beauty. This information has been shared with the Vice Principal for the Curriculum and will be presented by the Sabbatical Officers in Evaluation Summary which is currently being looked at.
4. Recommendation 4.1. It is recommended that the Committee consider the report provided by the Students’ Association
Karena Wetherall Regional President
Education and Welfare
Kirsty Anderson Regional President
Education and Activities
162
163
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.1
Student Activity 2015-16
1. Introduction1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the Committee with information on the current
status of student activity for the academic year 2015-16.
2. Background2.1 For the purposes of securing funding from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) College
activity is measured in credits, with the credits arranged in 5 price bands, which provide a method of aggregating student activity on different types of course and different modes of attendance in such a way that the duration of each programme and its resource demands are approximately reflected in the aggregated totals.
2.2 Ordinarily, if a college falls short of its target the SFC would require part of grant-in-aid for the year to be repaid.
2.3 The College monitors the level of enrolments and rates of student retention throughout the year, as well as the projected level of additional activity. These data are important in allowing the College to ensure that activity will at least meet required target levels. A low level of early withdrawal enables the College to secure its SFC funding at an early stage in the year and allows for the curriculum offer to be adjusted to reduce costs in the latter part of the year.
3. Current Activity Levels AY2015-163.1 The figures noted below and presented in Appendix 1 should only be read as an
approximation of the current position. The final calculation of credits can only be made at the end of the academic year and is dependent on: the final tally of enrolments for all types of activity across the whole year and student retention rates. As such the data below are indicative.
3.2 The Regional Outcome Agreement established with the SFC for AY2015-16 sets the College’s target for student activity at 139,549 credits.
3.3 At the time of writing this report, the College activity level is currently sitting at 144,965 credits. Data cleansing that takes place at the end of the academic year will likely reduce this down to 143,260. This will give the College a potential surplus of 3, 711 credits against the SFC target. See Appendix 1.
3.4 It is worth highlighting that the three Schools collectively are above target by 3,809 credits.
3.5 BCD target is 14,029 credits [including the Scottish Maritime Academy] and are currently sitting at 14,511 of credits that are logged in the system. This is an increase of 482 against their target.
3.6 It will be noted that if this additional activity above the target were funded, it could generate some £800,000 of additional income. However, while there is a penalty for undershooting the target, there is no reward for exceeding it.
3.7 Consideration is being given as to whether any of the excess activity can legitimately be counted towards the 2016-17 target because it “spans” into that year. This would have the effect of reducing costs of delivery in 2016-17.
164
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.1
4. Recommendation4.1 It is recommended that the Committee note the contents of this report.
Rob Wallen John DavidsonPrincipal Vice Principal – Learning and Quality
Agenda Item 7.1 Appendix 1
Full Time Enrolments:- Target
Actual to-date
School of Creative Industries, Computing and Business Enterprise
2,830 2,884
School of Engineering, Science and Technology
1,501 1,522
School of Service Industries
2,379 2,355
Business and Community Development 10 10 Total 6,720 6,771 Full Time Retention to-date:- Enrolled Early
withdrawal %
Rate School of Creative Industries, Computing and Business Enterprise
2,884 136 95%
School of Engineering, Science and Technology
1,522 89 94%
School of Service Industries
2,355 155 93%
Business and Community Development 10 0 100% Total 6,771 380 95% Part Time Retention to-date:- Enrolled Early
withdrawal %
Rate School of Creative Industries, Computing and Business Enterprise
790 85 96%
School of Engineering, Science and Technology
3,148 92 98%
School of Service Industries
1,393 53 93%
Business and Community Development 8,036 107 91% Professional Development 85 0 100% Total 13,452 337 98% Early retention (ALL) :- Enrolled Early
withdrawal %
Rate School of Creative Industries, Computing and Business Enterprise
3,674 221 96%
School of Engineering, Science and Technology
4,670 181 97%
School of Service Industries
3,748 208 94%
Business and Community Development 8,046 107 91% Professional Development 85 0 100% Total 20,223 717 96%
Key Performance Indicators Students Enrolled (Actual)
Early student withdrawal (withdrawn students as a % of enrolled students)
2012 2013 2014 2015 2012 2013 2014 2015 FT Enrolments 6,935 6,872 6,245 6,771 7.20% 5.59% 4.7% 4.6% PT Enrolments 12,240 11,863 6,371 13,452 4.71% 1.74% 1.1% 2% Credits:- Target
Credits Actual
To-date Planned Provision
Projected Outturn
School of Creative Industries, Computing and Business Enterprise
44,108 46,446 0 46,446
School of Engineering, Science and Technology
37,115 38,969 0 38,969
School of Service Industries
45,337 44,954 0 44,954
Business and Community Development
13,326 13,727 0 13,727
Scottish Maritime 703 784 0 784 Professional Development 75 85 0 85 Total 140,664 144,965 0 144,965 Projected Outturn after “cleansing”
143,260
Total SFC Target [incl. 3,035 ESF]
139,549
Over/Under Target + 3,711
• Three schools collectively are above target by 3,809 credits. Based on the average price band of £216.00 these additional credits are potentially worth £822,744
• BCD target is 14,029 credits [including SM] and currently sitting at 14,511
credits. This is 482 above target.
• Spanning [or transferring] 2,000 credits into 2016-17 is potentially worth a saving of £432.000 to the College.
• Spanning [or transferring] 3,000 credits into 2016-17 is potentially worth a saving of £648,000 to the College.
Given the current financial pressures the College is facing we should try and maximise the number of credits that could be transferred over into AY2016-17.
167
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.2
Key Quality Performance Indicators
1. Introduction1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the Committee with the final information on key
performance indicators relating to the Quality function.
2. Lesson Observation2.1 In the period 01 September 2015 to 24 June 2016 lesson observations processes were
reviewed to take into account the self-evaluation requirements implied by the adoption of the Scottish Funding Council Action Learning Project.
2.2 The revised approach to lesson observation is now well progressed and a total of 77 observations took place in 2015–16.
2.3 Lesson observations were also carried out on agency teaching staff as previously and remain distinct from that of permanent staff. A total of 19 observations were carried out for Protocol visiting lecturers by the College internal observer. The external observer from Protocol National also observed 20 Protocol visiting lecturers with only 1 being graded ‘Action required’.
Protocol National Lecturers
Ratings 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Acceptable 100% (42) 96% (48) 100% (31) 100% (39)
Action Required 0% 4%(2) 0% 1% (1)
3. ExternalVerificationVisits3.1 External verification is carried out by all awarding bodies. It is an important quality assurance
function, the purpose of which is to ensure the integrity of College assessment decisions and internal moderation (internal mechanism for checking integrity of assessments).
3.2 If an external verifier is not satisfied with the internal assessment and moderation in a college, he or she can recommend that the awarding body places sanctions on the College. These can range from minor recommendations for improvement through to suspension of enrolment/certification of candidates or ultimately, withdrawal of approval to run courses.
3.3 The following table shows the number of external verification visits carried out in academic year 2015-16:
Awarding Body NumberofVerificationChecks Number of Sanctions
SQA 37 0
CILT 1 0
IMI 1 0
ASDAN 1 0
AMERC 1 0
City & Guilds 6 0
NCFE 25 0
NOCN 1 0
CIPD 1 0
VTCT 2 0
College Development Network 1 0
Total 77 0 (0%)
168
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.2
4. Student Engagement4.1 College managers and Quality Team staff regularly meet students to discuss their learning
experience with a view to identifying improvements.
4.2 Student discussion groups provide an opportunity for managers to meet groups of students in open agenda meetings to discuss their learning experience. Student focus groups are run by Quality Assurance and Improvement staff and concentrate on identified topics. 32 focus groups have been conducted as noted in 4.4 below.
4.3 Peer-led reviews are held to allow members of the Students’ Association and an associated staff member to explore quality issues with other students. At the time of writing this report six peer-led reviews were planned by the Students’ Association in June 2016.
4.4 The programme of student focus groups in 2015-16 covered the following topics:
• BYOD – 3
• Learning and Teaching – 21
• Timetabling – 8.
5. Complaints5.1 The College monitors all complaints. These are investigated internally and responses
provided by appropriate departmental heads.
5.2 The College received 121 complaints in the period 01 September 2015 to 20 June 2016. At the same period last year we had 153. The following table gives details of the complaints with comparisons for the previous two years.
5.3 It will be noted that there had been a large rise in complaints relating to bursary administration in 2014-15 however, the implementation of a new computer-based system has resulted in significant improvements in this area.
5.4 There had also been complaints relating to I.T. systems due to the complexity of bringing together two separate I.T. systems in 2014-15. Significant improvements have been made in this area and stability has now been achieved.
169
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.2
Category of Complaint 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
CP1 Timetabling arrangements/course cancellations/change of lecturer
6 13 12
CP2 Delivery of Courses/Learning and Teaching 33 14 21
CP3 Standards of equipment or accommodation 5 2 0
CP4 Information provided about, or communication relating to courses
4 8 6
CP5 Course content 6 0 0
CP6 Assessment and/or certification arrangements or outcomes
9 8 13
CP7 Booking/enrolment administration by sectors 7 17 8
CP8 Arrangements relating to interviews/appointments 6 1 3
CP9 Behaviour of student within the College 12 5 1
CP10 Libraries/Information Technology Centre (Open Learning incorporated in Flexible Learning from 09-10)
0 0 1
CP11 Discrimination – protected characteristics 3 2 2
CP12 Behaviour of staff 0 22 14
CP13 Arrangements relating to work placement/experience
0 1 0
SS1 Equipment/rooms 9 6 0
SS2 Provision of general college information 0 1 1
SS3 Financial matters – invoices/refunds/payments 2 4 4
SS4 Bursary administration 0 19 12
SS5 Health and Safety Issues 1 2 4
SS6 College events 0 2 0
SS7 Services for Disabled 0 0 1
SS8 Guidance/Student Support 2 5 1
COS1 Catering 4 6 5
COS2 Security 1 2 1
COS4 Transport 0 0 3
COS5 Janitorial provision 0 0 0
COS6 Facilities 3 7 3
COS7 Cleaning Services 0 0 1
COS8 Delivery by Contracted Staff 0 0 0
COS10 IT Services 7 19 3
COS11 Car Parking 2 1 1
Totals 120 167 121
170
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.2
6. Compliments and Thanks6.1 The College receives many expressions of thanks from students, employers and visitors.
6.2 The following table gives details of those received in the period 01 September 2015 to 17 June 2016 compared with previous two years:
Category of Compliment 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
CP1 Timetabling arrangements/course cancellations/change of lecturer
0 0 0
CP2 Delivery of Courses 7 9 14
CP3 Standards of equipment or accommodation 0 0 0
CP4 Information provided about, or communication relating to courses
0 0
CP5 Course content 1 0 0
CP6 Assessment and/or certification arrangements or outcomes
0 0 0
CP7 Booking/enrolment administration by sectors 1 1 0
CP8 Arrangements relating to interviews/appointments 0 0 0
CP9 Behaviour of student within the College 1 2 0
CP10 Libraries/Information Technology Centre 2 0 0
CP11 Discrimination - Sex/race/disability/religion or belief/sexual orientation/age
0 0 0
CP12 Behaviour of staff 0 13 7
CP13 Arrangements relating to work placement/experience 0 1 0
SS1 Equipment/rooms – non course related 0 0 0
SS2 Provision of general college information 1 0 0
SS3 Financial matters – invoices/refunds/payments 0 0 0
SS4 Bursary administration 0 1 3
SS5 Health and Safety Issues 0 0 0
SS6 College Events 10 2 0
SS8 Guidance/Student Support 6 8 0
COS1 Catering 0 0 1
COS2 Security 0 0 0
COS4 Transport 0 0 0
COS5 Janitorial provision 0 0 0
COS6 Facilities and cleaning services 0 0 1
COS10 IT Services 0 0 0
COS11 Car Parking 0 0 0
Student -provided services 0 0 0
Totals 29 37 26
7. Recommendation7.1 It is recommended that the Committee note the contents of this report.
Rob Wallen John DavidsonPrincipal Vice Principal - Learning & Quality
171
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.3
Student Support Funds
1. Introduction1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the Committee with information on amounts
allocated for various support funds and comparative spend of AY2015-16 and AY2014-15.
2. Background 2.1 Funds allocated directly to the College The College receives a range of student support funds mainly from the Scottish Funding
Council (SFC) but also from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). These funds can be grouped as follows:
• bursary funds to support eligible Further Education (FE) students
• discretionary funds to support both eligible FE and Higher Education (HE) students
• childcare funds to support both eligible FE and HE students, now incorporating the Lone Parent Childcare Grant.
2.2 Funds controlled centrally by SFC (as opposed to being allocated directly) but administered by the College on their behalf:
• Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) programme.
3. Bursary Funds – General Rules
3.1 Both the student and their course of study must be deemed eligible before they can be considered for an award.
3.2 The amount of any award shall be determined by the College and would normally cover the student’s maintenance costs, travelling expenses and study costs (within the limits set in national policy).
3.3 The Bursary Fund is cash limited, students who are eligible for support are not automatically entitled to this support.
3.4 Spend on overall study costs must not exceed 15 per cent of the College’s initial bursary allocation for AY2015-16.
3.5 Bursary awards should only be made available automatically for attendance above 90 per cent of planned classroom hours.
3.6 Colleges may use their bursary funds to meet some or all of an eligible student’s travelling expenses where they are eligible for inclusion in a travel allowance by securing a transportation agreement with a local transport provider.
3.7 College’s may spend Bursary Funds on childcare.
3.8 Where SFC have given permission, shortfalls in bursary allocations can be offset by using FE/HE Childcare Funds or FE Discretionary Funds.
172
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.3
4. Discretionary and Childcare Funds – General Rules4.1 The range of discretionary and childcare funds is as follows:
A. Further Education Discretionary Fund (FEDF) (SFC) – for eligible non-advanced level students to be used primarily for emergency use to cover general living expenses but not for fees where there is a risk to the students continuation on their course.
B. Further Education and Higher Education Childcare Fund (FE / HE CCF) (SFC) which will have two elements as follows:
i) The Lone Parents Childcare Grant (LPCG) element which will be an entitlement payment of up to £1,215 per year to all eligible further and higher education students who are lone parents and who have formal registered childcare expenses while studying. The LPCG is not income assessed.
ii) The Discretionary Childcare Funds which all students may apply to for financial help with formal registered childcare expenses. Payments from the Discretionary Childcare funds will be made at the discretion of the institutions and based on an assessment of need.
C. Higher Education Discretionary Fund (HEDF) (SAAS) – for all eligible advanced level students to be used for general living expenses but not for fees (may be used for registered/formal childcare costs).
5. Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Programme5.1 EMA forms part of the Scottish Government’s agenda of encouraging access to, and
participation in post-16 learning by young people from low-income families.
5.2 EMA funds are intended to encourage learners to stay on in post-compulsory education i.e. after they are legally eligible to leave.
5.3 Recipients will normally be aged between 16 and 19 years (inclusive).
5.4 EMA funds do not form part of the grant-in-aid to SFC, but are claimed in arrears based on recorded activity in the sector.
5.5 Currently, eligibility of £30 per week will be for those with a household income of up to £20,351 and income of up to £22,403 for households with more than one dependent child. From the 01 January 2016 there were changes to the income threshold meaning a family with one dependent child earning up to £24,421 would now be eligible, an increase of £4,070 on previous levels. For a family with more than one dependent child, the increase was £4,481 up to £26,884.
5.6 Payment is dependent on 100 per cent weekly attendance and progress towards agreed learning targets. Students are however allowed up to 10 authorised absences over the course of the year without this impacting on their 100 per cent target.
173
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.3
6. Disbursement of Funds in AY2015-166.1 Information on the disbursement of funds up to 17 June 2016 is given in the tables in the
appendix to this report. Comparative figures have been provided at the end of last year. No funds have yet been vired between funds.
6.2 There are no more main bursary payment runs left for this academic year. However, the College will still continue to schedule ad hoc runs when required.
To date, the direct Bursary Fund payments to students have been:
Payment Month Amount Paid in Total
August £591,159.77
September £567,056.79
October £707,947.43
November £595,160.67
December £568,146.53
January £554,084.47
February £541,655.24
March £487,836.01
April £490,121.50
May £471,971.79
June £439,919.15
Total £6,015,059.35
6.3 If payments continue as anticipated then the College can expect the student support funds to be overspent by some £400k. As well as payments made directly to students this likely overspend of £400k includes a significant element of study expenses amounting to £158k which has previously been allocated to central costs and which has now been charged to bursary. In addition a further £143k costs have been charged to the bursary fund to cover costs associated with mini-bus usage for student-related transport.
7. SFC Allocation 2015-167.1 Allocations from SFC and SAAS have, this academic year, been significantly reduced by
over £440k from the previous year.
7.2 As noted above the present commitment for bursary and childcare payments currently outweighs our allocation. As well as a consequence of the SFC allocation reduction, this is due to:
• Additional weeks of support paid to students this year compared to 2014-15 (£130k)
• BYOD support (£225k)
• Increased entitlement to all Bursary-awarded students of approximately £1 per week (£80k)
• Busy B’s Nursery cost (£250k).
7.3 Fundamentally, as table 3 within the attached appendix indicates, the College is paying considerably more students this year than last.
174
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.3
7.4 Weekly reviews of commitment against allocation are carried out, and will be continued, to monitor the College’s position so that any required action to protect the College and its students is taken as quickly as possible.
Actions already taken to reduce the projected commitment include:
• Allocating £233,000 of College depreciation funds to help off-set the overspend;
• Finalising any adjustments to take into account the BYOD project;
• Investigating the potential to vire funds between underspent funds to overspent funds following Guidance issued;
• Seeking permission from SFC to vire further funds if required;
• Assessing any future students under the age of 19 for EMA payments only;
• Assessing students for course fee waiver only where they are being invoiced for course fees;
• Ensuring awards for withdrawn students are processed as quickly as possible;
• Restricting the number of withheld payments which can be re-instated per student;
• Closing applications for discretionary and childcare funds;
• Implementing a closing date for Funding applications;
• Investigating the possibility of ending bursary payments sooner by finishing courses earlier.
8. AY2016-178.1 Since the last report, The College has now been given its student support fund allocation
for 2016-17, details of which are contained in the following table:
Support Funds AY2016-17 AY2015-16
FE Bursary 6,200,995 6,512,201
European Social Fund 296,453 301,349
FE Discretionary 468,403 497,769
FE Childcare 618,240 657,000
Total 7,584,091 7,968,319
8.2 Committee Members should note that the College is facing a £384k reduction in its student support fund allocation for next academic year, an allocation which is over and above the £440K deducted for 2015-16.
8.3 Whilst the distribution of support funds is critical to the College’s ability to meet its commitment within the allocated funds, the Student Funding Team has, across campuses, already discussed how it will evolve College approaches to cope with the more restricted disbursement of student support funds to ensure it mitigates, as best as it can, the impact of such a severe student support fund reduction.
8.4 At the time of writing this report awareness-raising sessions have been organised to take place during the week of 27 June, 2016. These sessions are aimed at groups of staff whose functions and roles directly relate to student funding allocations and, therefore, the required changes in student funding procedures. These awareness-raising sessions will emphasise the need for the strict adherence to new procedures and SFC guidance. They will also highlight the need to action and monitor all aspects of student funding process to ensure fairness and consistency in the allocation of the College’s depleted student support funds. Whilst such approaches aim to ensure a fair and consistent distribution of funds it is anticipated that student retention and attainment, over the course of the following year, will be impacted.
175
Learning & Teaching and Student Services CommitteeMeeting of 19 July 2016
Agenda Item 7.3
8.5 By holding these sessions now it is hoped that those staff, in addition to the Student Funding Team, who play a critical part in advising students and supporting the distribution of student support funds i.e. the Student Services Team, Guidance Tutors and teaching staff generally, will also have time to put support plans in place to assist those students who will most likely be affected.
8.6 As well as the aforementioned sessions an extensive list of actions to ensure the appropriate management and distribution of funds, within the designated SFC allocation, will be implemented. These include:
• Improving assessment consistency amongst Team members when calculating bursary and discretionary awards;
• Creating a bank of exemplar applications to assist Team members when determining awards;
• Improve application turn-around time beyond the significant improvements made for AY2015-16;
• Updating student funding software in order to ensure that supporting evidence from prospective students is submitted and processed earlier;
• Maintaining a more consistent approach when re-instating held payments and ensuring that strict adherence in student attendance criteria is maintained throughout the year. For AY2016-17 we will only allow the current month and the previous month to be paid when considering reinstatement;
• Meeting to be held with Directors of Curriculum, Faculty Managers, Curriculum and Quality Manager, Guidance Tutors, Student Advisers and members of the Student Funding Team;
• Removing the availability of emergency payments to be replaced by Discretionary Loans;
• Ensuring the policies and procedures pertaining to student support funds are clear and disseminated to all relevant College staff;
• Ensuring that all overpayments for bursary, childcare and discretionary funds are reclaimed from the student at the earliest possible opportunity;
• Reviewing and adjusting the income bands for Childcare means-testing;
• Prioritising support for housing costs for Discretionary applications;
• Reverting to a closing date of 30 November for bursary applications, including those where the all the relevant documentation has not been uploaded;
• Conducting regular meetings with Guidance Tutors and Student Advisors to support a more consistent approach to advising on, and allocating, student support funds;
• Reducing study costs per student in line with revised SFC Guidance i.e. 6% to 7% rather than this year’s 15%;
• Reporting progress of actual payments, commitment and allocation to SMT on a fortnightly basis;
• Reducing the time students spend in College from 37 weeks to 36 weeks for AY 2016-17;
• Close working between the Student Funding Team and the College’s Business Office to ensure accuracy and completeness of reports.
9. Recommendation 9.1 It is recommended that the Committee note the information provided in this paper.
Rob Wallen Neil CowiePrincipal Vice Principal - Business Services
176
Agenda Item 7.3
Appendix 1 Table 1 – Funds Available
Funds Available
£000
Funds Available
£000
Support Funds 2015-16 2014-15
FE Bursary 6,813(Inc. ESF 301) 6,908
FE Discretionary 497 498 FE / HE Childcare (Inc. LPCG) 657 1,006
Total 7,967 8,412
HE Discretionary 200 210
EMA 480 611
Totals 8,377 9,233 Table 2 – Committed Funds
2015-16 2014-15 to year end
Support Funds
Funds Available £000s to
date
Funds Committed
£000s to date
Funds available
not yet committed
£000s to date
Funds Available
£000s
Funds Committed
£000s
Funds available
not yet committed
£000s
FE Bursary (Inc. £301k ESF) 6,813 7,044 -231 6,908 6,171 737
FE Discretionary 497 488 9 498 488 10 FE / HE Childcare (inc LPCG) 657 872 -215 1,006 793 213
Total 7,967 8,404 -437 8,412 7,452 960
HE Discretionary 200 198 2 210 193 17
EMA 480 480 0 500 500 0
Totals 8,647 9,082 -435 9,122 8,145 977
Table 3 – Supported Students
2015-16 Applications Received &
Assessed
2015-16 Applications being paid
to date
2014-15 Received
and Assessed
FE Bursary + Fee Waiver 4,138 3,813 4,100
FE Discretionary + Loans 713 523 691
FE Childcare 207 169 128
FE / HE LPCG 145 145 122
HE Discretionary + Loans 223 173 109
HE Childcare 61 49 36
EMA programme 469 469 359
