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Elizabeth Nuffield Educational Fund

Elizabeth Nuffield College Discretionary Fund

Thu, 15 December 2005

At a time when further education funding has been considerably reduced, ENEF is once again funding an initiative to help women studying at Level 3. The aim of the project is twofold: to help women learners in unexpected financial need, and to learn what kind of needs arise that might impact on the student’s ability to complete her course.

Background

In 1999 ENEF developed a partnership scheme with fifteen collaborating FE colleges to help with the childcare costs of nominated applicants. The scheme was discontinued in 2003 by which time the number of applicants referred to the ENEF had greatly decreased due to the availability of childcare support for student mothers in FE within the ring-fenced access funds. At the same time there was increased demand for ENEF support from woman studying in higher education, and the Committee took the decision to target expenditure in that area.

Pilot project

The situation has now changed. The Government is committed to childcare support for students in higher education and this has resulted in a reduction of applications to the Fund. The Committee has therefore decided to offer support to FE students, although in a necessarily limited way due to budgetary constraints, through a pilot project in collaboration with five London colleges of further education:

• Lambeth College
• Newham College
• College of North East London
• South Thames College
• Tower Hamlets College

The pilot, which will run until the summer of 2006, will entail establishing Discretionary Funds in the colleges, each of which will receive an award of £25,000, plus 5% for administration costs (a total of £26,250). Grants up to a maximum of £1,000 will be given to eligible women who find themselves with unanticipated or unforeseeable financial costs arising from changed circumstances with a long-term and significant impact on the grant-holder’s ability successfully to complete her course of study.

Outcomes

Grant-holders will be required to complete a pre- and post-questionnaire, giving details of their circumstances and the contribution of the grant to outcomes such as attendance and completion and moving on to employment or further study. The colleges will report to ENEF on the operation of the Discretionary Funds, as well as identifying any specific needs that have arisen for which additional support has been needed. Findings will be collated by ENEF and shared with the Department for Education and Skills and the Learning and Skills Council.

Last Updated Wed, 31 May 2006