Oxford’s Access Agreement approved

Oxford University’s Access Agreement has been approved by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) and is available on the OFFA website and the University website.

Oxford will spend more of its additional fee income on access and financial support than any other university in England (50%) - nearly double the sector average.

OFFA ranks Oxford as costing students less than nearly two thirds of all English universities. OFFA’s estimated average cost after financial support per student, per year at Oxford is £7,549 – the third lowest in the Russell Group.

Oxford’s financial support for lower-income students is likely to be the most generous in the country: the lowest-income UK students will receive support totalling £10,000 in their first year and over £6,000 in every later year.

While many universities are offering either fee waivers or bursaries, Oxford will provide both. Based on current student profiles, one in six UK students will receive a fee waiver and a quarter will receive a bursary.

From 2012-13, first-year UK Oxford students from the lowest income households will have their tuition charges limited to £3,500 (repayable after graduation), and will also receive a bursary of £4,300. In later years their charges will be limited to £6,000 and their bursaries will be £3,300. The amounts taper depending on household income.

Over £11m will be spent on financial support, student services and outreach in the first year of the new arrangements alone (2012-13). The spend will increase as more cohorts come under the new regime.

Oxford’s targets in the Access Agreement relate to increasing the proportion of UK undergraduates from schools and colleges which historically have had limited progression to Oxford; increasing the proportion of UK undergraduates from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds; increasing the proportion of UK undergraduates from neighbourhoods with low participation in higher education; and meeting the HEFCE benchmark on disabled students at Oxford.