Target Schools Under Threat
Target Schools, the student-led access scheme, is under threat as a substantial amount of its funding has expired.
Funding from the Government as well as from the Admissions Service is to dramatically fall this year.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has allowed the Student Union to bid in the past for money each year to go towards its Target Schools scheme.
Last year it received £11,000 and a similar amount was granted the year before. HEFCE supplies money to universities and other higher education institutions. It has now stopped funding to the Student Union as the money allocated has all been used.
Each year the Target Schools scheme also bids for money from the Oxford University Admissions Service as well as the HEFCE grant.
In the past the Admissions Service has given about £15,000 each year to the Target Schools access scheme.
However funding from the University Admissions Service is also to decline sharply this year. Director of Admissions Jane Minto told The Oxford Student: "Although we definitely feel a commitment to helping the Student Union's Target Schools scheme we can no longer afford to fund them to the same level as previous years."
This will result in Target Schools' budget falling from £26,000 last year to well below £15,000 this year.
Target Schools spends its money on regional conferences in England and Northern Ireland, the Target Schools Handbook, which is distributed to nearly every school in Britain, open days in Oxford, visits to schools and the upkeep of its website.
The scheme prides itself on being the only student-led access initiative in Oxford, which distinguishes it from the University Admissions Service and the Sutton Trust, two of the other groups promoting access in the city.
14th Oct 2004