Common use of Additional Access Measures Clause in Contracts

Additional Access Measures. Given the predominantly post-graduate, professional nature of the IOEs provision, there is a limit to which the IOE can widen participation to its own programmes. With this is mind, the Institute's Access measures relate predominantly to supporting current students in completing their studies and progressing to further study where appropriate. The IOEs student body is almost entirely mature, and most often already based in employment settings. This brings with it particular challenges to ensure that students are supported fully, provided with flexible modes of delivery to enable them to balance the demands of academic study alongside demands of working life. Although small aspects of the Institute's academic offering, the Foundation Degrees and their related BEd/BA top-up route are fundamental to the IOEs contribution to widening participation. To ensure that the programmes are accessible, particularly to mature learners who may have missed out on the opportunity to enter HE through traditional routes, the Institute sets entry criteria which are based on a requirement of NQF level 3, rather than traditional A- Levels, as well as based on relevant employment experience. The IOE Foundation Degrees contribute to widening participation and lifelong learning by encouraging participation of learners who may not previously have considered studying for a higher level qualification. Academic knowledge and understanding is integrated with the development and support of vocational skills and competencies. The Foundation Degrees have the defining characteristics of employer involvement, accessibility, articulation and progression, flexibility, partnership, and the development of knowledge skills and understanding. It is also recognised that the students studying for our Foundation Degrees may have particular academic support needs following extended periods of time away from formal study. We have therefore integrated within the academic structure of the Foundation Degrees the core module "Understanding professional and academic texts". This module is designed to re-introduce learners to the conventions of academic texts and prepare them with the skills required for higher level study. The Institute is currently engaged in a thorough review of its post-graduate taught curriculum. An emerging outcome of this review is to reshape the Institute's provision to enable students to study in a far more flexible fashion with an increasing degree of modularity in professional specialisms. This part-time, fully flexible delivery model will enable students to pace their studies in a manner which fits with their day-to-day lives thus opening up opportunities for students to study in a manner which is affordable over a long period of time. The impact of higher level graduate indebtedness on post-graduate taught provision is as yet untested. We believe that flexible delivery will play an important role in ensuring that no student, regardless of their circumstances, feels unable to engage in higher level study as a result of higher graduate repayments from 2015/16.