Financial incentives have been widely implemented for the improvement of participation and subsequent educational outcomes of disadvantaged and underrepresented students in education. This chapter presents an evaluation of a well-designed and carefully implemented university-led programme in which 7,669 students participated. In this group92 students also received a bursary of up to £2,000, who met the criteria of socioeconomic disadvantage according to their parental self-reported household income. The programme included opportunities for learning and a three years bursary plan for eligible participants. In the evaluation the comparison is drawn between applicants and those who were accepted for the programme. The evaluation outcomes were retention and degree outcomes. The results indicate some promise for programmes based on financial incentives such as bursaries, which are beneficial for disadvantaged students' degree completion outcomes, but not for being awarded a first-class degree. Prior attainment is a key predictor of both outcomes, and so is household income for those students reporting it. A very small number of students who received the programme are from ethnic minority heritage or have a disability. The degree completion outcomes of these disadvantaged groups are not always positive. Raising the degree completion rate of the disadvantaged students is the main target of widening access initiatives. Analysing existing data can be useful in studying patterns in HE populations. Unfortunately, the number of cases in one institution is generally so small (or the cell sizes for schemes and outcomes are so small) that such analyses may mislead. A national evaluation for all institutions and schemes would be far preferable.
Citation
Siddiqui, N. (2024). Do Supported Progression and Bursary Initiatives Improve Student Outcomes?. In V. Boliver, & N. Siddiqui (Eds.), Researching Social Inequalities in Higher Education: Access, Diversity and Inclusion. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003452430-3
Online Publication Date
Sep 10, 2024
Publication Date
Sep 10, 2024
Deposit Date
Aug 1, 2024
Publicly Available Date
Mar 11, 2026
Publisher
Routledge
Peer Reviewed
Peer Reviewed
Book Title
Researching Social Inequalities in Higher Education: Access, Diversity and Inclusion
