The Scottish Funding Council has published guidance to universities on how they should use its national upskilling fund to develop new, flexible skills-based courses.
Now in its second year, the focus of the fund is firmly on supporting people who have lost their job or are at risk of losing their job as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Universities are being asked to build on recent innovations in this area and to further develop their ability to help people acquire skills for a changing economy. Institutions are also being encouraged to create additional learning materials and to offer opportunities to more people.
In the first year of funding for upskilling, the Open University in Scotland developed a series of special modules to address skills gaps in IT, business, maths and engineering. At Abertay University, people wanting to improve their skills in marketing were offered a suite of digital marketing qualifications designed to be relevant to any type of business. The University of the Highlands and Islands created two courses leading to qualifications in medical and social care.
In its guidance for this year, the Scottish Funding Council asks universities to collaborate to create a range of complementary opportunities and to avoid duplication. Courses developed through the upskilling fund will typically be much shorter than a full academic year and will have flexible start dates for students.
Universities are being asked to provide details of their plans for using the fund by early December.
More information is available on the SFC website.
A new blueprint for the digital age has been published today by a partnership that includes the Scottish Funding Council, College Development Network (CDN), Colleges Scotland and Jisc.
Described as “bold and inspirational”, the report focusses on how colleges can best prepare for new working practices through training and upskilling. Taking a people-centred approach, the plan also addresses the need to provide fair and equal opportunities for all in Scotland’s digital future.
Colleges across Scotland have already introduced pioneering digital initiatives, including Dundee and Angus’s Cyber Lab, which mirrors the real-life working conditions of cyber security experts. At Forth Valley College, staff have used a £65,000 investment from the SFC-administered College Innovation Fund to design an online course for healthcare workers. Glasgow Kelvin College has identified the need for a personal digital hub for students and developed the MyKelvin app. The app allows students to check their timetable, attendance record, library loans and other information about their life at college.
As part of the plan, colleges will provide high-quality opportunities for staff to improve their digital skills, and to put these into practice in their teaching and communication with students.
The Principal of Forth Valley College, Dr Ken Thomson OBE, who led the short life working group which produced the report, said:
“Thanks to digital, learning will be more engaging, giving students more flexibility. We will also be able to work with predictive analytics from real-life data, meaning that we will be able to identify students who require extra support, and use the data to support their learner journey progression.”
Our Digital Ambition for Scotland’s Colleges is now available online.
The Scottish Funding Council has announced an allocation of £13.2 million to Scottish universities for this year from the UK Government’s £1.5 billion Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).
The fund is designed to create international research collaborations to respond to global issues such as social welfare, environmental sustainability and economic development.
Since 2016-17, GCRF has supported more than 400 projects led by Scottish universities and involving over 70 developing countries. These include the development of an award-winning, low cost ophthalmology resource for health care workers by the University of St Andrews; the University of Glasgow’s research into the implications of teaching in English or native languages; and ongoing work into creating systems for safe drinking water by Robert Gordon University.
The success of Scottish universities in using GCRF and other international funding to help developing countries was reflected in the latest edition of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. The rankings, which assess the world’s universities against the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, included five Scottish universities in 2020.
Speaking about the Fund, SFC Director of Research & Innovation, Dr Stuart Fancey said:
“Scottish universities’ research is making a real difference to the lives of people in a number of developing nations. SFC is pleased to partner with BEIS and these universities to help GCRF funding support research that responds to needs and opportunities in those countries, contributing to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”
For more information see Global Challenges Research Funding allocations FY 2020-21 announcement.
The latest analysis from the university admission service, UCAS, shows an 8% increase in applicants being given a place at a Scottish university.
The 48,820 applicants now starting a full-time undergraduate degree course represent the highest number since 2011, an increase of 3,700 from this time last year.
According to UCAS, today’s figures – produced just over 5 weeks from SQA results day – provide a reliable indication of the final acceptance figures for the annual university applications cycle. As such, they will be seen as good news for Scottish universities at a time of uncertainty amidst the global coronavirus pandemic.
One effect of the pandemic on 2020 university applications has been the number of applicants being given a place at a relatively late stage in the process. Around 14,000 applicants have been placed since SQA results day on 4 August compared with 10,380 during the same period last year.
Commenting on figures across the whole of the UK, Clare Marchant, UCAS Chief Executive, said:
“As students are starting their new courses across the country, these numbers confirm the enduring appeal and welcome of our outstanding universities and colleges.
“They, along with schools, UCAS, and organisations across the entire education sector, have worked tirelessly in recent months to provide reassurance and flexibility to applicants, and ensure access to the best opportunities possible.”
There was also good news today for students from the most disadvantaged parts of Scotland. The UCAS figures show a 5% increase in applicants from these areas, a development that will be seen as a welcome sign of further progress towards fairer access to higher education.
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has allocated a further £3.6 million of Scottish Government funding to enhance student counselling services in colleges and universities across Scotland.
The allocation is part of a £20 million, four-year investment in mental health counselling for students. Last year saw initial Scottish Government funding of £3.6 million together with an additional £100,000 for SFC to support the set-up of the programme over its first two years. So far, almost 60 new full time equivalent counsellors have been appointed at colleges and universities across Scotland.
The money announced today is for the coming academic year and will provide additional professional counsellors, helping to ensure students can get the right help when and where they need it. Colleges and universities are also being encouraged to take advantage of some of the mental health care innovations which allow students to access support remotely, including online counselling.
The allocation comes as colleges and universities get ready for the beginning of the new academic year, and students prepare to come to terms with the uncertainties created by the pandemic.
Richard Lochhead, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, said:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental and emotional health of many new and returning students. It is vital that every student can access the mental health support they need.
“The funding and guidance announced today for the academic year 2020/21 by the Scottish Funding Council is another significant milestone in delivering our 2018 Programme for Government commitment to more than eighty additional counsellors in further and higher education over four years.”
Karen Watt, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said:
“I am delighted the Scottish Funding Council is funding these vital student counselling services. This can be an anxious time for new and returning students in terms of travel, accommodation, how teaching will work, and their own health as well as the health of friends and family. This funding for student counselling services aims to support good mental health and wellbeing at this particularly difficult time.”
Institutions such as Forth Valley College took advantage of the extra money in 2019-20 to increase the availability of their counselling services. At Forth Valley College, three new support counsellors were recruited at the end of April, which also allowed the College to provide counselling services at all three of its campuses.
Kenny MacInnes Vice Principal Learning and Student Experience at Forth Valley College, said:
“The extra funding we received earlier this year, allowed us to offer new counselling provision which was a very welcome addition to the services provided by our Student Services and the wider Equalities, Inclusion and Learning Services team.
“Our counselling provision has always been very heavily requested and due to increased demand our counselling service, at times, has been put under significant pressure, resulting in extended waiting times and delays in appointments.
“This initiative has allowed us to expand the service and, create one that is flexible to our students’ needs and I am sure the new available funding will help more colleges and universities to do the same.”
In its guidance for the use of the new money, SFC has emphasised the need for a flexible approach to providing counselling which reflects the diversity of the student population and the unpredictable nature of the coronavirus pandemic.
Revised guidance for colleges, universities and student accommodation providers reflecting the latest public health advice has been published.
It builds on previous guidance and uses the most up-to-date evidence to support universities, colleges and accommodation providers plan for a safe return to campus in the new academic year. It includes:
- A continuation of blended learning, with significantly reduced frequency and numbers of staff and students on campus compared to pre-COVID levels.
- A requirement to keep face-to-face teaching to small groups, generally less than 30 and supported by other infection prevention control measures. Group numbers of up to 50 students may be considered in some circumstances, but only where supported by a risk assessment.
- Advice that face coverings should be worn in any area on campus where physical distancing cannot be guaranteed, on dedicated college and university transport and in student accommodation indoor communal areas such as toilets, common rooms and laundry rooms.
- A requirement for colleges and universities to give clear information on regulations and guidance to students arriving from outside Scotland, and to take steps to ensure international students and staff who need to quarantine comply with the law, including using appropriate disciplinary procedures.
The start of the student year will be fundamentally different this year with significant change to the delivery of education and a need to dramatically curtail the socialising many would associate with this period. For the protection of public health the Scottish Government has stressed the importance of ensuring the guidance is complied with.
Universities Scotland, Colleges Scotland, National Union of Students (NUS), trades unions and public health professionals were consulted on the guidance.
Scottish Water and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) are working together on a £3.5 million initiative to make Scotland a world leader in water industry research. The money, which comes from Scottish Water, will be a catalyst for academic research and innovation led by the newly-created post of Scotland Hydro Nation Chair in Water.
From today, Scottish universities are being invited to submit bids to host the project. Funding to support the Hydro Nation Chair in Water post and its associated activities will be spread over six years. The aim is to accelerate progress towards Scotland becoming a sustainable Hydro Nation. According to the bid document, this means transforming the way the water sector operates to make a positive contribution to Scotland’s climate change goal of attaining net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
New research and innovation stimulated by the creation of a Scotland Hydro Nation Chair in Water will also work towards ensuring that people across the whole of Scotland will continue to enjoy access to high quality drinking water. Other areas of research will include the recycling of waste water and ways of enhancing the natural environment.
Simon Parsons, Scottish Water’s Director of Strategic Customer Service Planning, said:
“Scottish Water has set out an ambitious strategy and we are pleased to be working with the Scottish Funding Council to identify ambitious academic partners to help support our journey to net zero emissions and service excellence while providing great value for our customers.”
Dr Stuart Fancey, Director of Research and Innovation at the Scottish Funding Council, said:
“Scotland’s universities have a global reputation for the quality of their research and innovation, the results of which play an incredibly important part in our everyday lives. I am confident that establishing a leadership post in research and innovation for water will inspire new discoveries, some of which will be crucial to tackling the climate emergency.”
Proposals are being invited from both individual universities and from groups of universities collaborating to meet the objectives of the Hydro Nation initiative. Universities will submit their proposals by 25 September and their bids will be assessed by a panel of experts in October.
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has today issued special guidance to universities.
The move comes in response to the decision by the Cabinet Secretary for Education on 11 August to award grades for 2020 SQA Highers and Advanced Highers according to teachers’ estimates. The Scottish Government subsequently committed to making provision for those with the required grades to have a place at college or university.
According to initial analysis, the 2020 pass rate for Highers is up by over 14%, with the Advanced Higher Pass rate increasing by 13.7%.
Today’s guidance recognises that universities will have made admission decisions based on the initial results published by the SQA on 4 August. Many applicants rejected on the basis of those results now hold upgraded awards which meet universities’ entry requirements. The Scottish Government is therefore removing financial penalties for universities’ over-recruitment of full-time Scottish or EU students.
The Scottish Funding Council has confirmed it will fund all increases in Scottish full-time undergraduate admissions resulting from the national increases in exam pass rates, providing that universities fill their existing funded places for 2020-21. SFC will also continue to fund the places of this larger intake of students as they move through their four of five year degree programmes.
The Scottish Government has also removed the current cap on the number of students enrolling for health related subjects such as medicine, nursing and midwifery.
The universities admissions service, UCAS, will provide SFC with information on admissions to individual universities. Universities will also be asked to provide SFC with regular enrolment updates.
Further information on today’s announcement.
Universities in Scotland are being invited to put forward projects to take advantage of up to £60m of low interest loans from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). To help combat the effects of Covid-19, one of the themes for proposals will be initiatives to help universities adapt to a post Covid-19 environment. The other key theme in response to the Climate Emergency is managing the development of university buildings to tackle carbon reduction while also making them work better for students.
The Scottish Funding Council will prioritise bids that widen their impact through partners with other universities or colleges.
Suggested proposals include:
- Shared buildings/facilities for learning, especially those which catalyse other sources of funding.
- Reducing the university carbon footprint.
- Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the estate.
- Adjustments to buildings to respond to Covid-19 and/or improve the student experience.
Universities will have until December to develop their proposals and submit them to SFC.
Karen Watt, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council said:
“The £60 million loan funding announced today will help universities adapt campuses and provision across Scotland, to tackle the challenges of climate emergency, sustainability, and Covid-19. We are looking for strong and innovative proposals that will secure change, while supporting an excellent student experience.”
You can find the call for proposal on the SFC website.
A new £5 million fund has been created to help colleges and universities tackle digital exclusion among disadvantaged students, the Scottish Funding Council has announced.
The cash is being made available to institutions to help bridge the “digital divide” by providing additional support for Scotland’s most disadvantaged students with the digital devices they need to access learning.
The funding is in addition to a range of recent additional support for Scotland’s colleges and universities in their fight against the effects of Covid-19, which includes £75 million to protect world-leading university research, £10 million for estates development, and early access to £11.4m of Higher Education Hardship Funds.
Richard Lochhead, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science said:
“The Scottish Government is committed to doing everything we can to help all our learners weather the impact of the coronavirus crises.
“I know this has been a huge challenge for many – but I hope this £5m Digital Fund will go some way to easing the pressures, by helping thousands of learners to access the necessary computer resources they need to continue with their studies.”
Karen Watt, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said that the investment would help students facing hardship with the costs of taking part in online learning:
“This digital fund will support disadvantaged learners across Scotland to study online, with computers they might otherwise have been unable to buy themselves – vital help when money is tight and access to digital learning is more important than ever.”
Tim Frew, CEO YouthLink Scotland, the national agency for youth work, said:
“All steps to mitigate the impact of coronavirus are very welcome. This fund will address the digital barriers faced by many young learners in the community and promote digital inclusion. We are delighted to be working with CLD partners, Lead Scotland and WEA in getting this resource to where the need is greatest.”
Matt Crilly, NUS Scotland President said:
“Today’s announcement is very welcome. As students and apprentices return to a blended model of learning, it is more important than ever that they have access to the laptops, internet, and equipment that they will need to succeed in their studies.
“Investment in digital support is positive news for students across Scotland, particularly as we see a rise in the number of working class students gaining a place in further and higher education this year, for whom the cost of learning is often the greatest.”
Full details of today’s announcement can be found on our website.
This August, Interface is celebrating its 15th anniversary with news of a record number of partnerships and research and development projects. Since Interface was established in 2005 to bridge the gap between the worlds of business and academia, Interface has brought together over 3,271 company and academic partners, resulting in 2,375 research and development projects. In the last year alone (up to July 2020) 329 research and development projects have been successfully brokered following introductions by Interface – the highest figure in any single year since the service was launched.
Stuart Fancey, Director of Research and Innovation at the Scottish Funding Council, said:
“Interface has been funded by the Scottish Funding Council since its creation and we are proud to have been able to support its impact on business innovation across many sectors of the economy throughout Scotland. Combining expertise and talent from universities and colleges with ideas and knowledge from progressive companies will be an important part of Scotland’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, making the work of Interface more important than ever.”
Richard Lochhead, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, said:
“The team at Interface continues to play a significant role in establishing long-lasting collaborations between businesses and academia delivering a range of social, environmental and economic impacts.
“What it has achieved in its first 15 years is impressive, and has enabled many productive partnerships helping Scottish companies and organisations to flourish and scale up, and I look forward to seeing many more achievements from them in future.”
Dr Siobhán Jordan, Interface’s founding director, established the service with a “blank sheet” after recognising the potential for greater collaborations between businesses and universities.
“Many industry led challenges have been solved over the past 15 years through partnerships we have brokered and it is humbling to see how the outcomes have truly made a difference to day-to-day life socially and economically. The impacts from the connections we have enabled are far reaching and brought interest and recognition from around the world. Crucially this has enabled Scottish companies to grow and scale; access new markets, expand workforces and increase turnover, whilst often bringing positive impacts on communities and individuals.”
A new report released today sets a series of recommendations for colleges and universities to create more opportunities for students to progress seamlessly between a Higher National (HN) qualification into a university degree. Produced by the National Articulation Forum, the joint initiative by Colleges Scotland and Universities Scotland, calls for an acceleration of action to develop pathways from college into university. This is to help more students avoid repeating levels of study across different qualifications by recognising their credit for previous learning. Known within the tertiary education sector as “articulation”, the route has been an option for learners for many years; the Forum’s task has been to scale-up and make articulation more accessible in every college and university so that it is more attractive to a larger group of students.
The report’s recommendations take on even greater significance in the context of the recovery following the coronavirus pandemic and its disproportionate impact on young people and those who are already disadvantaged. The recommendations are focused on creating more flexible opportunities for learners as well as closer collaboration between colleges and universities to meet learner demand in the post-pandemic economy.
From the outset, the Forum made a clear commitment that student experiences would be key to their work. To that end, 13 focus groups were held involving 90 students at various stages of their learner journey. Those views have helped shape this final report.
Highlights from the 14 recommendations for colleges, universities and other stakeholders, include:
- All Scottish colleges and universities should ensure that a baseline level of support is in place for all stages of the articulation pathway (pre-transition from college to university, and post-transition) including provision of study skills, academic writing practice, and research skills.
- Colleges and universities should make use of available evidence of student demand and of skills gaps in the Scottish economy to develop new articulation routes.
- The Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council should support the development of a national articulation map in an app for students which would show all articulation options in one place. This should follow on from the pilot of a regional app which launched in the south east of Scotland in July 2020.
- The Scottish Government, SDS, colleges and universities, should coordinate and fund a public-facing Scotland-wide campaign to raise awareness of articulation as desirable route into university and promote this to pupils and students of all backgrounds.
The National Articulation Forum Final Report [PDF] was created with support from the Scottish Funding Council and builds on the Commission on Widening Access’s 2016 report, A Blueprint for Fairness, which identified increased articulation as a means to widen access to university. The Forum took forward the Commission’s recommendation on delivering progress for student articulation and to provide national leadership on this agenda.
Karen Watt, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council said:
“Flexible routes into and through degree courses play a vital part in creating a fairer and more accessible higher education system in Scotland. I very much welcome today’s report and its consideration of how more progress can be made in this area.”
Commenting on the report, Professor Nigel Seaton, Joint Convener of the National Articulation Forum and Principal of Abertay University said:
“Over four thousand students a year are already using full-credit articulation as a way into university, building on their college qualifications in a way that fits in with their own aspirations. The Forum wants to increase the opportunities available to students to articulate from college to university, and our report makes a series of recommendations that we believe will achieve this.
“The Forum was a collaborative effort between the college and university sectors, building on experiences of effective collaboration between colleges and universities in different parts of Scotland. We put student perspectives at the heart of our work, learning from students about what worked for them, and where they saw opportunities for us to do better.
“There has been a positive shift over the last couple of years, with more colleges and universities making articulation routes available. We need to accelerate that progress. Whilst the pandemic has brought much uncertainty, I can only see a greater role for articulation in Scotland’s post-pandemic future.”
Lydia Rohmer, Joint Convener of the National Articulation Forum and Principal of West Highland College UHI, said:
“Colleges and universities have been working in partnership for many years to provide opportunities and pathways to enable students to make the transition from college to university. The work of the Forum has been invaluable in helping to provide focus on ways that colleges and universities can enhance that provision and provide more opportunities for students to progress towards their chosen careers.
“Articulation routes provide a valuable pathway from college into university for many students, some of whom will have already overcome significant barriers; therefore, it is important that the routes are flexible, seamless, and provide equality of opportunity. The recommendations encourage even closer working relationships between colleges and universities – and indeed collective leadership across the wider Scottish education system – to deliver fair, equitable and sustainable pathways into university, and reducing any unnecessary repetition of the learner journey.”
THREE new projects in Scotland are set to benefit from early stage investment from UKRI’s Strength in Places Fund (SIPF). The investment, which will see support given to 17 developing projects in total across the UK, will harness research and innovation excellence to drive local economic growth.
Covering a wide range of innovative sectors including healthcare, agri-technology, and clean energy, the projects will tackle some of the biggest challenges facing Scotland and the UK today. They will build on local strengths in industry and research to create significant economic impact, drive local growth, provide skills training and create high-value jobs.
This funding follows the announcement on 26 June of investment, totalling £60.5m, in two projects backed by Scottish universities as part of Wave 1 of the SIPF. Announced in the UK Industrial Strategy in November 2017, the £236 million SIPF benefits all nations and regions of the UK by enabling them to tap into the world-class research and innovation capability that is spread right across the country.
The new consortia, which involve universities, research organisations, businesses and local leadership, will receive up to £50,000 each to develop full-stage bids for funding from the second Wave of SIPF. This seed funding will allow the consortia to develop their projects and apply for a further £10-50 million each from UKRI later this year.
Responding to the announcement, Dr Stuart Fancey, Director of Research and Innovation at the Scottish Funding Council said:
“Following Scotland’s success in Phase 1, I am delighted that our universities have continued to engage creatively and enthusiastically with the opportunities presented by the Strength in Places Fund. It is testament to the strength of our research base and the vision of our companies that Scotland is well represented in the projects that have received seed funding today.
The three Scottish projects are excellent examples of how our research community, working in collaboration with industry partners and others, can make a real difference to meeting the needs of Scotland’s economy and wider society. I look forward to seeing these projects develop into full-stage bids.”
The list of projects being supported in Scotland is detailed below.
| Project | Institution | Sector | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Dairy Value-Chain for South-West Scotland and Cumbria | SRUC | Agri-Tech, Food and Drink | Digital Dairy Value-Chain for South-West Scotland and Cumbria
Activities include:
|
| Centre for Regulated Bio-Manufacture, boosting an advanced therapies, biologics and manufacturing cluster | Heriot-Watt University | Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals | Centre for Regulated Bio-Manufacture (Edinburgh):led by Heriot-Watt University, the consortium aims to establishan advanced therapies, biologics and manufacturing cluster in the Lothian region. Essential new therapies based on cellular technologies, such as transplanted donor tissues or cells, and of bio-therapeutics such as antibodies, require both a complex manufacturing infrastructure and skilled people to ensure quality and standards. This consortium spanning academia, business and the NHS will provide highly trained people and cutting edge facilities that will make this possible in the Lothians. This includes a new building for Real world learning, research and manufacture that contains the laboratory facilities required, co-located with NHS facilities and an industry cluster. |
| HotScot– Unlocking Minewater Geothermal Energy Within Former Mining Areas of Scotland’s Central Belt | University of Strathclyde | Energy | HotScot (Glasgow):led by the University of Strathclyde, the consortium will oversee three new mine water geothermal projects, extracting heat from old flooded mines, which will help to provide low-cost, low-emissions heat for communities and businesses across Scotland’s Central Belt. |
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture has today announced new Scottish Government investment in jobs and digital technology. The move is designed to support a strong economic recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 crisis.
As part of the announcement, the Flexible Workforce Development Fund, which helps employers to upskill and reskill their existing workforce, will be increased from £10 million to £20 million for 2020/21. As a result, an initial £13 million will be available immediately through colleges who will continue to expand their current support for employers.
The Scottish Government will work with businesses, the Scottish Funding Council and other partners to ensure that the further £7 million of Flexible Workforce Development Funding can effectively expand the opportunities for business to engage with the scheme.
Elsewhere, the Cabinet Secretary announced a further £1.5 million for Business Gateway’s Digital Boost programme – almost trebling the capacity of the initiative for the remainder of this financial year.
Speaking about the investments, Ms Hyslop said:
“We are focussed on taking immediate action to support our economy as we look to rebuild after COVID-19 and by investing in jobs and digital technology we will create the foundations of a strong recovery for Scotland.
“Opportunities for training are essential for both employers and employees, so we have doubled funding for our Flexible Workforce Development Fund to £20 million for 2020/21.”
Scotland’s colleges and universities will benefit from £10 million of additional capital funding as part of the Scottish Government’s investment to reduce the economic harm caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
The funding, which has been allocated by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), comes from the £230 million ‘Return to Work’ package announced in June by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance. The scheme aims to boost the construction sector by recycling funds back into the economy that were not deployed during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The money will allow colleges and universities to carry out maintenance and construction work in addition to activities already planned on the basis of the capital funding allocations announced by SFC in April. It will also be used to put back on track projects affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the initial lockdown.
Commenting on the announcement, a spokesperson for Colleges Scotland, said:
“Colleges Scotland welcomes the announcement of additional investment to help offset the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the college sector. This injection of financial support will be used to make some much-needed improvements in the sector’s estates and help to ensure students and staff are working in the best possible learning environments.”
Full details of the announcement.
On results day 2020 our CEO Karen Watt shares a message to all students and prospective students as we look at a series of blogs of people’s learner journeys.
Please find below a series of blogs from a wide range of institutions that students have shared about their own learner journeys:
- Andrew Palmer, Borders College
- Holly Watson, Borders College
- Nicola Crombie, Borders College
- Robbie Neave, Borders College
- Teigan Scobie, Borders College
- Ross Dickinson, Borders College
- Craig Thomson, Borders College
- Karra Laing, Borders College
- Mia Beckett and Jenna Young, Coatbridge High School and Braidurst High School
- Ronan McMillan, City of Glasgow College [PDF]
- Alexandra Matzari, Heriot-Watt University
- Alexandra Matzari, Heriot-Watt University
- Kayleigh Dart, New College Lanarkshire
- Weronika Jaworksa, Strathclyde University [PDF]
- Niamh McCourt, Strathclyde University [PDF]
- Scott Farmer, West Lothian College [PDF]
- Simon Lunter, West Lothian College [PDF]
- Alexander Peden, West Lothian College [PDF]
Today the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is pleased to confirm that the Scottish Government has made up to £300,000 available to the college sector in Financial Year 2020-21 from the Tackling Child Poverty Fund. Particularly during this time, the impacts of Covid-19 mean that proposals are expected to include evidence of how colleges will work with partners to increase support to those young people and families who need it most.
SFC is looking for proposals from colleges and their partners that support or scale up preventative approaches. This is to help ensure that young people who have grown up in poverty have a sustainable route to better outcomes and a route out of poverty. Proposals can also look to support young mothers and fathers in further education, acknowledging the particular support they need and enabling them to build a future for themselves and their families.
This call for proposals supersedes the call that closed on 6 January 2020, which was subsequently interrupted by the Covid-19 crisis. Proposals submitted at that time will not automatically be considered for this current call. And whilst colleges are welcome to resubmit their original proposal, consideration should be given to whether that proposal meets the requirements in the updated guidance in the context of Covid-19. Colleges are invited to submit proposals for funding by 31 August 2020.
Dr Donna MacKinnon, SFC’s Director for Access, Learning and Outcomes said,
“Whatever their background, all children and young people deserve the same chance to reach their full educational potential.
“Colleges play a crucial role, embedded in our communities, in providing educational opportunities for those living in poverty.
“During these times of Covid-19, it is more important than ever that those in poverty are given every opportunity and we continue the efforts to close the attainment gap.
“This money will help Colleges in Scotland to deliver innovative opportunities for children and young people to succeed.”
The UK’s exercise for assessing research excellence in universities, the Research Excellence Framework (REF), recommences on 31 July 2020. This follows a four-month pause due to COVID-19. The recommencement is accompanied by new guidance, describing revisions to the exercise made in view of the altered timetable and to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on universities’ submissions.
The recommencement of REF 2021 marks the start of the countdown to the revised submission deadline of midday, 31 March 2021, following a period during which the exercise was on hold in response to COVID-19.
To support universities in the final stages of submission preparation, following the pause period and COVID-19 disruption experienced, the four UK higher education funding bodies that conduct the REF have agreed the final set of revisions to the timetable and guidance. They have also provided preliminary advice on putting in place contingency arrangements for REF submission preparation.
Informed by responses to surveys on REF revisions, the Guidance on revisions to REF 2021 (REF 2020/02) describes the changes both to the overall timetable, as well as the guidance that aims to take account of the effects of COVID-19.
Alongside that publication, the Advice on contingency planning (REF 2020/03) provides some points of advice for universities to consider, in order to minimise further disruption to the preparation of REF submissions.
The funding bodies’ decisions on the REF timetable and revisions were informed by advice from the expert panels and engagement with the higher education sector and partners between April and July. This included surveys on the best timing for the revised submission deadline, and on revisions to the assessment framework that could help to take account of the effects of COVID-19 on REF submissions. Effects on submissions include delays and disruption to planned submission data, as well as to the process of preparing submissions itself.
A new Web App that allows students and school leavers to look up further and higher education pathways in one place launches today. The Pathways Web App was developed by the Regional Learner Passport Partnership (RLPP) and supported by the Scottish Funding Council to make pathways that exist across many colleges and universities easier to understand.
The advertising, promotion and understanding of learning options are often complex and difficult for pupils, students and advisers to find and navigate. In recognition of the many institutions and diverse range of courses, the Pathways Web App was established to promote and create efficient and clear routes to Higher Education in and around Edinburgh and the surrounding South-East Scotland area.
The Pathways Web App makes it clear that it is possible to move from college to university with full credit awarded for prior learning and is a distinctive and much admired feature of Scottish post-16 education. Now school leavers and students can look up their college and university options in one single place without contacting numerous institutions.
The Web App was put together in response to The Commission on Widening Access (COWA) outlining that education pathways were a way in which people could access higher education to achieve a degree.
Karen Watt, CEO of the Scottish Funding Council said:
“Moving from college to university where you get credit for prior learning is an incredibly important part of the Scottish education system. This Web App will ensure that regardless of your background and regardless of your start in life, you have an opportunity to have a route to higher education and the opportunity to explore the options that are right for you.”
Alistair Sambell, chair of the Regional Learner Passport Partnership said:
“Our colleges and universities came together in this innovative partnership with a shared commitment to improving access to higher education for learners across the region. This web based app was developed with strong input from students themselves, in keeping with our guiding principle of putting students at the heart of our actions.”
The results of the 2020 UK-wide National Student Survey (NSS) show that student satisfaction levels at Scottish universities are the highest in the UK. Scotland is also the only part of the UK where, for full-time and part-time students together, overall student satisfaction has risen.
Published today, the figures show that, overall, 85% of students in Scottish universities who responded to the survey are satisfied with the quality of their course – up from 84% last year. For UK universities as a whole, the equivalent figure is 83%, marginally down from 84% last year.
The National Student Survey is the biggest national survey of student opinion, and this year’s survey represents the views of over 311,432 students UK-wide, with 69% of eligible students taking part.
This year’s NSS was open to students between early January and the end of April, overlapping with the start of the COVID-19 crisis and the beginning of lockdown. Analysis published alongside the main report found no evidence that the reliability of the results had been affected by the impact of COVID-19.
Additionally, for full-time students in Scotland, the survey found that 90% agreed that staff were good at explaining things and 87% said that they were able to contact staff when they needed to.
The data from the National Student Survey will be published on the DiscoverUni website later this year, providing valuable information to guide potential students’ choices about where and what to study.
See the full results of the 2020 National Student Survey.