Appendix B:

update and
review of
progress from
Year 1
 The establishment of the Forum has been 1. Information Advice and Guidance
welcomed across the sector, and its profile and (IAG)
impact is gradually increasing. Since the NSF’s
One of the Forum’s key recommendations last
first report was published in October 2008:
year was the development of an online IAG portal
Government responded to the Forum’s to bring coherence, consistency and ultimately
recommendations through its report, published customisation to the plethora of information that
in January 2009.* is already available online. Its recommendations
on IAG, prior to entering higher education, have
stakeholder and partner organisations continue remained high on the agenda this year:
to participate in Forum meetings to help advise
and inform its recommendations Government subsequently commissioned
UCAS and NUS to undertake a review of
the NSF engaged with Vice-Chancellors, UUK on-line information and consider how it helped
and other key higher education partners at a applicants to make well-informed choices.
major seminar in May 2009 Forum members have been consulted during
the course of the study and participated in the
some individual institutions have begun to project steering group. BIS are now working
consider the implications of the first report’s with UCAS and Direct Government to see how
recommendations for their practice36 they can improve sign-posting for prospective
students. UCAS and NUS confirmed the
Forum members have attended various Forum’s central finding – that the issue is
sector events to discuss the Forum’s navigation of information (not availability).
recommendations on particular topics in more
detail, for example, members spoke on IAG Vice-chancellors met with the Forum in May
at the National Conference for Teachers and to discuss how universities could improve the
Advisors and at The Career Development information they provide to students prior to
Organisation’s annual conference entry into higher education
Forum members were invited to further
Although the Forum has gone on to look at discuss the recommendations at conferences
a number of new areas in its second year, organised by CRAC: The Career Development
for students, the themes from last year have Organisation, the National Council for Teachers
continued to resonate and the Forum has worked and Advisors and the Higher Education Liaison
to keep these high on the agenda of government, Officers Association
universities and higher education partner bodies.
We outline below the progress on the key topics Last year, the Forum committed to continuing its
discussed by the Forum last year. work on IAG by looking at the needs of mature,
part-time and postgraduate students and this is
covered in the relevant chapters in this report.
s of
e implication
36 considering th
endations
NSF recomm
ropolitan
s at Leeds Met
Student Service ademic Board,
The Director of a briefing pape
r to the Ac
Univers ity pr es en ted giving consideration
NS F re co m m endations, and
outlining the
’s response.
to the university
at:
per identified th
The briefing pa of
nts at the centre
is re lev an t to... putting stude no t re viewi ng
The report of the university
r wa ys of wo rking... the risk t Foru m is th at insights
ou uden
the National St nt-centred may
the outcomes of be co m ing more stude
ies fo r
and opportunit
be missed.
Briefing Paper,
ademic Board
urce : Le ed s Metropolitan Ac
So
February 2009

*
The government’s full response can be accessed at
http://www.dius.gov.uk/higher_education/students/student_
listening_programme/national_student_forum/~/media/
publications/R/response_to_national_student_forum_report

95 National Student Forum – Annual Report

2. Student Finance
Student Finance was a key theme for the Forum
last year, with one of its major areas of concern
being improvement to the Student Loans
Company’s (SLC) service, which it committed to
monitoring. The SLC returned in May 2009 to
update the Forum on their progress including:
the launch of the new Student Finance
England service
the recruitment of new senior management
responsible for customer experience
the implementation of a customer
engagement strategy
The SLC also outlined the elements of the review
that are still to come including:
the My Fact Find service – an online calculator
providing information on financial entitlement
and comparing bursaries from different HE
institutions
the My Application and Offer programme – a
simpler online application process which will
work out from the student’s individual profile
the steps they will need to take and remove the
necessity to work through lengthy forms
and guidance
The Forum was particularly pleased to hear
that the SLC is now actively listening to and
acting upon customer feedback. The Forum will
continue to monitor these developments and the
impact they have upon students.
96 National Student Forum – Annual Report
3. Employability
Although not originally identified as a priority
area, employability emerged as a recurring
issue across the Forum’s first year discussions.
Therefore, last year the Forum developed informal
proposals, rather than formal recommendations in
this area. Its continuing importance – especially
in the current economic climate – led to it
remaining a key priority for Forum members
this year, and this report dedicates a chapter to
exploring this in more detail.
4. Specific student groups:
International, Disabled and
Postgraduate students
Last year the Forum held subgroups to explore
the concerns particular to Disabled Students,
International Students and Postgraduate
Students and published a series of draft
proposals for further consideration by the full
Forum this year.
With the limited time available to the Forum in
mind, it was agreed to:
dedicate time to developing recommendations
for improving the postgraduate experience as a
priority (see chapter on Postgraduate students)
review and refine the disabled student
draft proposals, and publish the updated
recommendations (see update on Disabled
Students). The Forum also agreed to continue
to consider all core topics from the perspective
of equality and diversity for all students and to
keep a watching brief as to whether it might be
appropriate to hold further discrete subgroups
in future
review the international student draft proposals
in the context of current developments in this
arena, and identify any immediate implications
for our work.
The Forum was joined by UK Council for
International Student Affairs (UKCISA), who
updated members on the new immigration
laws (‘Tier 4’) that will potentially have a great
impact upon international students. The laws
are designed to make the visa application more
transparent, ensure those students that do come
into the country have sufficient means to live
comfortably during their time here, and allow
them to remain in the country to contribute
to the UK economy for two years after the
completion of their studies. However, there may
be unintended consequences, and we therefore
agreed to suspend our work in this area for
this year, until the effect of these new laws has
become known.
National Student Forum
Annual Report 09
Electronic copies can be downloaded from www.nationalstudentforum.com