Student Opportunity Fund

(asked on 7th February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will conduct a Government consultation before making changes to the Student Opportunities Fund.


Answered by
Michelle Donelan Portrait
Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This question was answered on 15th February 2022

The Student Opportunity Fund no longer exists. It used to be allocated to higher education providers by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), who also published associated guidance.

HEFCE closed on 1 April 2018 and was replaced by UK Research and Innovation, and the Office for Students (OfS).

The government issues guidance on its priorities for expenditure to the OfS through the Strategic Priorities Grant letters which are published at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/regulation/guidance-from-government/. These letters include guidance on supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

To support students most at risk of dropping out, the government provides additional formula-based funding for providers through the student premium (part of the Strategic Priorities Grant). As of July 2021, the OfS has allocated student premium funding totalling £273 million to providers for the 2021-22 academic year.

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