Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 “1       Relevant Background Information

1.1       Members will be aware that the Council made £300,000 available through the Investment Programme for the Achieve: Belfast Bursary Fund.  The Fund is administered through Belfast Metropolitan College (Belfast Met) and The Prince’s Trust.  Hundreds of young people are supported in the city to take part in further education and training and to improve their employment prospects.

1.2       The Prince’s Trust bursary (with funding allocated through the charity’s Development Awards programme) is open to young people aged 16-25 residing in the city who are not in education, training or employment. The scheme aims to help recipients overcome barriers which may prevent them from undertaking training and education or moving into employment.

1.3       At BMC, full-time students who began their first year of study, who are resident in the Council area, aged between 16-24 years and whose annual household income is £23,820 or less were eligible to apply for grants of up to £500.  This award applied to students on one of the 10 recognised Achieve: Belfast Bursary Fund training courses.  The courses identified were at Levels 2-5 and in some of the future growth sectors including IT, multimedia, renewable energies, science, tourism and hospitality.  This is the first year of the programme and Belfast Met was allocated £120,000 to administer 240 awards at £500 each.

1.4       The Belfast Met scheme has just closed to applications but only around 50 applicants met the criteria for the bursary.  Following engagement with the college, it is proposed that consideration be given to widening the bursary to other courses, still within the priority growth areas. 

2          Key Issues

2.1       Applications for the Achieve: Belfast Bursary Fund opened on 2 September 2013 and closed on 15 November 2013.  A targeted promotion and awareness campaign was undertaken to extensively advertise the Bursary Scheme from August to November 2013.  The Bursary was promoted in the Belfast Met prospectus, on Belfast Met’s website within the Student Finance section, online within Student’s Blackboard Learning resource, through word of mouth and on notice boards.  Belfast Met and Belfast City Council worked together to produce promotional flyers and application forms.  These were distributed to the relevant course co-ordinators. Student Finance Officers gave presentations in classrooms and provided application forms to students enrolled on the 10 courses.  All staff and students were sent an email reminding them of the closing date.  The Bursary was promoted on the Council’s website and Belfast Business Info Facebook page and ran alongside Belfast Met’s Facebook promotion.  Students were encouraged to apply for the award and also advised of the forthcoming closing date.

2.2       Despite extensive advertising and promotion, Belfast Met gave the following analysis as to why take up was lower than expected:

·        Given that Achieve: Belfast Bursary Fund is a new pilot initiative, it was difficult to predict uptake levels of the award, particularly around the income level criteria at or below £23,820;

·        Belfast Met recruits a high percentage of students from outside the Belfast area who travel each day to the college.  This is up to 50% in some of the courses identified and this has limited the pool of students who are eligible to apply for the Bursary;

·        It was difficult to determine the number of applicants as students typically tend to submit application for bursaries just a few days before or, on an award’s closing date.  All 350 printed applications were taken by students and a further reprint was required;

·        A large number of students on the two Access courses fell outside the 16-24 age range which restricted the number of eligible applicants; and

·        If the closing date was extended among students on the existing 10 courses, Belfast Met does not believe this would attract significant additional applicants, given the volume of promotion.

2.3       The following table shows the number of applicants received who met the criteria for each of the eligible 10 recognised courses.

2.4       Belfast Met have undertaken further analysis of their registrations and have identified a potential 284additional students on a further 27 courses within IT, multimedia, renewable energies, science, tourism and hospitality sectors.

2.5     The College’s database has been used to collate information on the current intake of students and the following details have been considered:

·        The numbers of students who meet the age and Belfast domicile criteria who are studying full-time and in first year at the College;

·        More than 50% of students on the proposed courses live outside the Council area and projected figures represent a potential pool of Belfast residents;

·        It is not possible to identify student income and whether it is likely to be above or below the £23,820 threshold.

2.6     In the early planning stage of this bursary programme, a longer list of eligible courses had been included but this had been scaled back to 10 on the advice of Belfast Met staff who considered that the numbers could be met within the 10 identified courses.  However, staff now suggest that, this year in particular, there has been a significant increase in students from outside Belfast.

2.7     Subject to Council approval, Belfast Met also propose to undertake immediate and extensive promotion of the Bursary Fund to students on the 27 additional courses and to set the closing date for end January 2014 to engage students’ attention and ensure maximum participation.  Current eligible applicants will have their funds administered as per existing arrangements before Christmas.

5        Recommendations

5.1     Members are asked to consider the request to extend the Achieve: Belfast Bursary Fund to a potential 27 courses in IT, multimedia, renewable energies, science, tourism and hospitality sectors to meet the targets set for sign-up.”

            After discussion, during which it was agreed that the future manner in which the fund was distributed would be re-evaluated, the Committee adopted the recommendation and agreed that the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee be requested to consider the removal of the age restriction criteria within the bursary fund, as administered by the Belfast Metropolitan College on behalf of the Council, in its final year.