Common use of Targets and Milestones Clause in Contracts

Targets and Milestones. The College constantly reviews and evaluates its current position within the sector. With this in mind, it has set targets that focus on areas for improvement, which stretch and challenge the College, and targets that are in line with OFFA’s strategic plan 2015-2020. Therefore, targets are set that encompass all aspects of the students’ life cycle with the aim to improve and maintain student access, success and progression. The use of milestone targets to measure progress and evaluate performance will be either on a yearly cycle or through interim reviews. Access target Overall in 2013-14, the percentage of degree learners attending the College from Low Participation Neighbourhoods (LPN), classified by POLAR3 as quintile 1, was 61%. This figure is 4% higher than the sector average for all FECs. However, the number of young (18–25) entrants is significantly lower than the proportion of older ‘second chance learners’, with only 33% of LPN learners being under 25 years old. Therefore, the College has set a target to increase access for young, full time, undergraduate entrants from LPN to 55% by 2021. The College will encourage applications to higher education through outreach activities that are focused on raising aspirations and attainment among potential applications from LPN. There are twelve local areas of LPN that are classified as quintile 1 (POLAR3) within the College’s demographic. The College will engage in opportunities to visit Primary and Secondary schools in LPN, as well as summer school taster days, which will contribute to raising access. The internal progression of WMC level 3 students aged 18-25 from LPN will also be raised and supported through specific Information, Advice and Guidance activities. The College, in partnership with other HEIs, participates in HEFCE’s MNCO aspiration-raising activities across the region. Part of this collaboration with MNCO includes a project created, planned and implemented by the College that features sustained and co-ordinated activities in LPNs (POLAR3 quintile 1 areas). Progress on this target will be measured and evaluated on a yearly cycle using widening participation indicators in line with HEFCE UK performance indicators. Student success target The College has set a target to reduce non- continuation rates for all full-time students from LPN (POLAR3, quintile 1) from 14% to 6% by 2021. This will be achieved through the implementation of a Student Mentor scheme that will offer social support and signpost those students ‘at risk’ of non-continuation to college support services. The College will facilitate accommodation for personal study and support distance learning (where mitigating circumstances deem this appropriate). The use of induction activities and HE Student Union activities will be further developed to promote student engagement, enhancement and belonging. A number of HE tutors are currently in the process of gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, this process will see HE tutors reflect on their own performance and practice. This in turn will support student success through the continued improvements in teaching and learning. Performance and progress with be measured and evaluated on a yearly cycle, using non-continuation rates and module completion rates. This measure is in line with HEFCE UK performance indicators. Progression target The College has set a target to increase progression onto further study or graduate level employment for those young, full-time, first degree achievers from LPN (POLAR3, quintile 1) from 84% to 90% by 2021, with an interim milestone target after two years, of 87% in 2019. The College will work with local employers and those in professional careers to build on and increase the national figure of 84.5% (this figure is related to 16% of Further Education Colleges 2012/13). The intention is to close the gap in employment for this group between FEC and HEI graduates. The College will engage with already established links with employers to source work placements for undergraduates. Progress on this target will be measured and evaluated through follow up contact with leavers after six months. This will ascertain the number of graduates in employment or in further study. Collaborative and long-term outreach targets Activities to increase access to higher education through collaborative and long-term outreach work will include the following: Continue to build on the collaborative outreach work, by developing resources and activities in schools, ensuring schools and pupils are receiving the support and information they need to progress onto higher education. Developing drop-in sessions and workshops, as well as one-to-one appointments from a dedicated HE engagement team; student finance advice team; careers team; additional learning support team. Providing drop-in sessions and workshops to raise aspirations and confidence in order to raise participation from identified target groups, such as looked-after children. Working closely with schools around family and community learning events to raise participation from target groups. Monitoring and evaluation arrangements The Principal and Vice Principal for Curriculum have overall responsibility for the Access Agreement. Monitoring of progress on targets set by the College will be the responsibility of the Academic Panel. This panel meets twice throughout the academic year and receives an Academic Panel Report from each course leader detailing not only the quality of provision, but also information and data regarding all aspects of the student lifecycle. Therefore, access, success and progression will be reviewed at this level to ensure quality, consistency and that milestone targets are being met. The Academic Panel will then report its findings to the Higher Education Quality Assurance Committee (HEQAC). The HEQAC, who also meet twice during the academic year, are responsible for the following strategic developments: overall college performance evaluation; overall quality assurance and standards; any actions arising from QAA reviews; and ensuring any actions are implemented and completed in the appropriate timeframe. A HE student representative is invited to both the Academic Panel and the HEQAC. The College also holds a HE Forums throughout the year. This forum is an arena for HE tutors to share good practice, inform and update HE staff on developments within the sector and to support Continued Professional Development specifically for HE. The forum will be used to support HE staff in monitoring and achieving targets set at course level as part of the Access Agreement. Evaluation of activities Evaluation of the effectiveness of student lifecycle activities will be undertaken by:  Tracking the progress of students who participate in collaborative and outreach activities to see whether the activities result in improved recruitment to higher education  Collecting participant feedback to evaluate the impact of activities on attitudes and aspirations towards higher education, and whether this results in improved attainment of participants  Gathering feedback from student ambassadors and academic staff on the effectiveness of activities to improve success and retention  Utilise the HEFCE Toolkits and the experience of our university and FEC partners to review activities against benchmarks  Use of KIS and NSS data for national comparisons of student satisfaction rates  Use of DLHE data for national comparisons of progression into employment or postgraduate study Provision of Information to Prospective Students The College will provide information relating to finance and current course fees for students via the following platforms: WMC HE Prospectus – this publication contains information for students about the first port of call for guidance on the application process, including contact details of student advisers. Information will also include associated tuition fees, loans and grants. The document also contains details around making an application for student support. College Website – the website includes up to date student fee information, as well as information around loans and bursaries. HE Events and Open Days – Teaching staff and learning Support Staff will provide advice and guidance to potential students and associated family members. The College also attends external events and presents exhibitions within the local community Galleries and such events will also be a vehicle to raise student awareness of the financial options available to them to study at HE level. UCAS and SLC – the College provides information to UCAS and the Student Loan Company in order to ensure that accurate information is available to potential students. The College will comply with all associated deadlines through the College’s HE Administrator. CMA - In accordance with the Competition and Markets Authority guidance, all information provided to students is distributed in a durable medium and subsequent changes to that information is brought to the attention of students. Consultation with Students The College proactively seeks to encourage all students to engage in all aspects of college life and processes, which enable students to communicate with staff in a range of ways and levels. Students’ views are valued by the College, and the engagement between students and staff allows consideration of new ideas and ways of working, and also ways to resolve issues, resulting in enhancement of the students' experience. WMC students have been directly involved in the development of the OFFA Access Agreement, and they have been consulted over the proposed tuition fees and how the plan will be implemented. A copy of the draft document was sent to the College Manager for Student Engagement who has discussed the content of the agreement with HE student representatives. In addition the HE Director and Manager have held seminars with both HE and FE Level 3 course groups, to discuss the content of the agreement. A proforma was given to students and their feedback has been collated and consequently aspects of the agreement were amended. For example the bursary as a fixed sum rather than other options was preferred by student representatives. Other additional amendments have also been included within the agreement. Student representatives are also members of the HE quality committees within the College and they have attended meetings where discussion around the implementation of the Access Agreement has been discussed. Currently all HE quality committees meet every term, as do the HE Forum and HE Student Union. Feedback and actions from the committees are forwarded to the College leadership team where necessary, otherwise actions are implemented through the Directors for each curriculum area concerned. When students are inducted at the College they receive a considerable amount of information regarding the opportunities that are available to them, both educational and in terms of quality processes. Also, as the academic year progresses further opportunities will be promoted to students. It was thought that because of the amount of information given at the start of their course, students may not take on board all of the opportunities available to them. The new HE student handbook is a directory that students can take away and refer to in their own time. The HE handbook contains a student charter and information on how students can become involved in a range of councils, panels and committees, and also become a student representative at the Board of Governors. This enables students to present their views, the views of students within their class group, and the wider student body. The College has a Student Engagement Policy and Implementation Strategy. This details how it will develop and strengthen student representation and participation, and how it might involve students in quality improvement. It also gives details of how the College will measure and report on the impact of student engagement.

Targets and Milestones. The College constantly reviews and evaluates University has reviewed the targets established under this agreement through to 2019-20. This review has lead the University to amend its current position targets so that they align with the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are agreed within the sectorinstitutional plan to measure progress. With this As such they have a currency within the University and are widely understood and used throughout the University’s planning and monitoring processes. Table 3 Target No. Access Performance Indicator Benchmark 2013-14 % Performance 2013-14 % Target 2019-20 % 1 Ensure that the University continues to achieve or exceed all of its HESA location adjusted WP benchmarks for social inclusion T1a Young full time first degree entrants by POLAR 3 low participation marker 23.51 27.4 29.9 2 T7 Percentage of students in mindreceipt of DSAs 7.4 6.9 8.5 1 location adjusted (In the case of T7, it has set targets that focus on areas for improvement, which stretch and challenge the College, and targets that are in line with OFFA’s strategic plan 2015-2020. Therefore, targets are set that encompass all aspects of the students’ life cycle with the University will aim to improve and maintain student access, success and progression. The use of milestone targets consolidate recent progress through to measure progress and evaluate performance will be either on a yearly cycle or through interim reviews. Access target Overall in 2013-14, the percentage of degree learners attending the College from Low Participation Neighbourhoods (LPN), classified by POLAR3 as quintile 1, was 61%. This figure is 4% higher than the sector average for all FECs2020. However, the number of young (18–25) entrants is significantly lower than University will need to review the proportion of older ‘second chance learners’, with only 33% of LPN learners being under 25 years old. Therefore, the College has set a target to increase access for young, full time, undergraduate entrants from LPN to 55% by 2021. The College will encourage applications to higher education through outreach activities that are focused on raising aspirations and attainment among potential applications from LPN. There are twelve local areas of LPN that are classified as quintile 1 (POLAR3) within the College’s demographic. The College will engage in opportunities to visit Primary and Secondary schools in LPN, as well as summer school taster days, which will contribute to raising access. The internal progression of WMC level 3 students aged 18-25 from LPN will also be raised and supported through specific Information, Advice and Guidance activities. The College, in partnership with other HEIs, participates in HEFCE’s MNCO aspiration-raising activities across the region. Part use of this collaboration with MNCO includes indicator as an appropriate measure for the participation of disabled people in HE.) Table 4 Target No Retention, Student Success and Attainment Performance Indicators Benchmark 2013-14 % Performance 2013-14 % Target 2019-20 % 3 Percentage of students achieving qualification aim n/a project created, planned and implemented by the College that features sustained and co-ordinated activities in LPNs 80.7 90.0 4 Percentage of entrants to FT First Degree programmes continuing or qualifying following year (POLAR3 quintile 1 areas). Progress on this target will be measured and evaluated on 2 year time delay) n/a yearly cycle using widening participation indicators in line with HEFCE UK performance indicators. Student success target The College has set a target to reduce non- continuation rates for all full-time students from LPN (POLAR3, quintile 1) from 14% to 6% by 2021. This will be achieved through the implementation of a Student Mentor scheme that will offer social support and signpost those students ‘at risk’ of non-continuation to college support services. The College will facilitate accommodation for personal study and support distance learning (where mitigating circumstances deem this appropriate). The use of induction activities and HE Student Union activities will be further developed to promote student engagement, enhancement and belonging. A number of HE tutors are currently in the process of gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, this process will see HE tutors reflect on their own performance and practice. This in turn will support student success through the continued improvements in teaching and learning. Performance and progress with be measured and evaluated on a yearly cycle, using non-continuation rates and module completion rates. This measure is in line with HEFCE UK performance indicators. Progression target The College has set a target to increase progression onto further study or graduate level employment for those young, full-time, first degree achievers from LPN (POLAR3, quintile 1) from 84% to 90% by 2021, with an interim milestone target after two years, of 87% in 2019. The College will work with local employers and those in professional careers to build on and increase the national figure of 84.5% (this figure is related to 16% of Further Education Colleges 2012/13). The intention is to close the gap in employment for this group between FEC and HEI graduates. The College will engage with already established links with employers to source work placements for undergraduates. Progress on this target will be measured and evaluated through follow up contact with leavers after six months. This will ascertain the number 91.9 95.0 5 Percentage of graduates in employment work or study 6 months after graduation E1a Leavers obtaining Non continuation following year of entry full time first degree by age marker and continuation status n/a 84.8 88.0 - 91.7 86.7 6 Percentage of graduates in further study. Collaborative and long-term outreach targets Activities professional or managerial jobs 6 months after graduation n/a 46.8 49.0 Milestones in years of agreement The data available in any access agreement year will relate to increase access to higher education through collaborative and long-term outreach work will include an earlier cohort (the following: Continue to build on the collaborative outreach work, by developing resources and activities in schools, ensuring schools and pupils are receiving the support and information they need to progress onto higher education. Developing drop-in sessions and workshops, as well as one-to-one appointments from a dedicated HE engagement team; student finance advice team; careers team; additional learning support team. Providing drop-in sessions and workshops to raise aspirations and confidence in order to raise participation from identified target groups, such as looked-after children. Working closely with schools around family and community learning events to raise participation from target groups. Monitoring and evaluation arrangements The Principal and Vice Principal for Curriculum have overall responsibility latest available for the Access Agreement. Monitoring relevant indicator at the time of progress on targets set by the College will be the responsibility of the Academic Panel. This panel meets twice throughout the academic year and receives an Academic Panel Report from each course leader detailing not only the quality of provision, but also information and data regarding all aspects of the student lifecycle. Therefore, access, success and progression will be reviewed at this level to ensure quality, consistency and that milestone targets are being met. The Academic Panel will then report its findings to the Higher Education Quality Assurance Committee (HEQAC). The HEQAC, who also meet twice during the academic year, are responsible for the following strategic developments: overall college performance evaluation; overall quality assurance and standards; any actions arising from QAA reviews; and ensuring any actions are implemented and completed in the appropriate timeframe. A HE student representative is invited to both the Academic Panel and the HEQAC. The College also holds a HE Forums throughout the year. This forum is an arena for HE tutors to share good practice, inform and update HE staff on developments within the sector and to support Continued Professional Development specifically for HE. The forum will be used to support HE staff in monitoring and achieving targets set at course level as part of the Access Agreement. Evaluation of activities Evaluation of the effectiveness of student lifecycle activities will be undertaken by:  Tracking the progress of students who participate in collaborative and outreach activities to see whether the activities result in improved recruitment to higher education  Collecting participant feedback to evaluate the impact of activities on attitudes and aspirations towards higher education, and whether this results in improved attainment of participants  Gathering feedback from student ambassadors and academic staff on the effectiveness of activities to improve success and retention  Utilise the HEFCE Toolkits and the experience of our university and FEC partners to review activities against benchmarks  Use of KIS and NSS data for national comparisons of student satisfaction rates  Use of DLHE data for national comparisons of progression into employment or postgraduate study Provision of Information to Prospective Students The College will provide information relating to finance and current course fees for students via the following platforms: WMC HE Prospectus – this publication contains information for students about the first port of call for guidance on the application process, including contact details of student advisers. Information will also include associated tuition fees, loans and grants. The document also contains details around making an application for student support. College Website – the website includes up to date student fee information, as well as information around loans and bursaries. HE Events and Open Days – Teaching staff and learning Support Staff will provide advice and guidance to potential students and associated family members. The College also attends external events and presents exhibitions within the local community Galleries and such events will also be a vehicle to raise student awareness of the financial options available to them to study at HE level. UCAS and SLC – the College provides information to UCAS and the Student Loan Company in order to ensure that accurate information is available to potential students. The College will comply with all associated deadlines through the College’s HE Administrator. CMA - In accordance with the Competition and Markets Authority guidance, all information provided to students is distributed in a durable medium and subsequent changes to that information is brought to the attention of students. Consultation with Students The College proactively seeks to encourage all students to engage in all aspects of college life and processes, which enable students to communicate with staff in a range of ways and levels. Students’ views are valued by the College, and the engagement between students and staff allows consideration of new ideas and ways of working, and also ways to resolve issues, resulting in enhancement of the students' experience. WMC students have been directly involved in the development of the OFFA Access Agreement, and they have been consulted over the proposed tuition fees and how the plan will be implemented. A copy of the draft document was sent to the College Manager for Student Engagement who has discussed the content of the agreement with HE student representatives. In addition the HE Director and Manager have held seminars with both HE and FE Level 3 course groups, to discuss the content of writing the agreement. A proforma was given Table 5 Performance Indicator Performance (most recent data) % Target 2016-17 % Target 2017-18 % Target 2018-19 % Target 2019-20 % Ensure that the University continues to students and their feedback has been collated and consequently aspects of the agreement were amended. For example the bursary as a fixed sum rather than other options was preferred by student representatives. Other additional amendments have also been included within the agreement. Student representatives are also members of the HE quality committees within the College and they have attended meetings where discussion around the implementation of the Access Agreement has been discussed. Currently all HE quality committees meet every term, as do the HE Forum and HE Student Union. Feedback and actions from the committees are forwarded to the College leadership team where necessary, otherwise actions are implemented through the Directors for each curriculum area concerned. When students are inducted at the College they receive a considerable amount of information regarding the opportunities that are available to them, both educational and in terms of quality processes. Also, as the academic year progresses further opportunities will be promoted to students. It was thought that because of the amount of information given at the start of their course, students may not take on board achieve or exceed all of the opportunities available to them. The new HE student handbook is a directory that students can take away and refer to in their own time. The HE handbook contains a student charter and information on how students can become involved in a range of councils, panels and committees, and also become a student representative at the Board of Governors. This enables students to present their views, the views its HESA location adjusted WP benchmarks for social inclusion T1a Young full time first degree entrants by POLAR 3 low participation marker 27.4 28.4 28.9 29.4 29.9 T7 Percentage of students within their class group, and the wider student body. The College has a Student Engagement Policy and Implementation Strategy. This details how it will develop and strengthen student representation and participation, and how it might involve in receipt of DSAs 6.9 7.5 7.9 8.2 8.5 Percentage of students achieving qualification aim 80.7 84.4 86.3 88.1 90.0 Percentage of entrants to FT First Degree programmes continuing or qualifying following year (2 year time delay) 91.9 93.1 93.8 94.4 95.0 Percentage of graduates in quality improvement. It also gives details work or study 6 months after graduation 84.8 86.1 86.7 87.4 88.0 Percentage of how the College will measure and report on the impact of student engagement.graduates in professional or managerial jobs 6 months after graduation 46.8 47.7 48.1 48.6 49.0

Targets and Milestones. The College constantly reviews has a good track record in meeting the targets set in its original access agreement. We attract high proportions of students from under- represented groups and evaluates its current position within the sectoraim to maintain this across our higher education provision. With this in mind, it has set targets that focus on areas for improvement, which stretch and challenge the College, and targets that are We aim to continue to recruit mature students in line with OFFA’s strategic plan 2015-2020our mission. Therefore, Our statistical targets in relation to our student body are set that encompass all aspects as follows: Disabled students 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% Black and ethnic minority students 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% The source of the students’ life cycle with data for targets for disabled students and black and ethnic minority students is the aim College’s ILR data submitted to improve and maintain student access, success and progressionthe Skills Funding Agency. The use of milestone targets to measure progress and evaluate performance A new statistical target will be either on a yearly cycle or through interim reviews. Access target Overall in 2013set for new entrants from disadvantaged adults from lower socio-14economic classes, the percentage of degree learners attending the College from Low Participation Neighbourhoods (LPN), classified measured by POLAR3 as quintile 1, was 61%. This figure is 4% higher than the sector average for all FECs. However, the number of young (18–25) new entrants on full state support, from SLC data : Number of entrants on full state support 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 A new statistical target will be set for student retention across our HE provision as follows : Student retention 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 84% 85% 86% 87% 88% The source of the data for student retention targets is significantly lower than the proportion of older ‘second chance learners’, with only 33% of LPN learners being under 25 years old. Therefore, College’s ILR data submitted to the College has set a target to increase access for young, full time, undergraduate entrants from LPN to 55% by 2021Skills Funding Agency. The College will encourage applications to higher education through outreach activities that are focused on raising aspirations and attainment among potential applications from LPN. There are twelve local areas of LPN that are classified as quintile 1 (POLAR3) within the College’s demographic. The College will engage in opportunities to visit Primary and Secondary schools in LPN, as well as summer school taster days, which will contribute to raising access. The internal progression of WMC level 3 students aged 18-25 from LPN will also be raised and supported through specific Information, Advice and Guidance activities. The College, in partnership with other HEIs, participates in HEFCE’s MNCO aspiration-raising activities across the region. Part of this collaboration with MNCO includes a project created, planned and implemented by the College that features put more effort into sustained and co-ordinated activities outreach engaging with potential students over a number of years and there will not be an immediate effect on the statistical targets for additional new entrants on full state support and for improved retention rates. The student numbers involved are relatively small. We have therefore provided milestones around our outreach and retention work to illustrate our progress towards increasing access and improving retention. These milestones relating to outreach activity and student retention and progression are as follows : Outreach activity milestones Extend outreach activity to a further 10 community and voluntary organisations a year. Develop progression accords with two local FE colleges, Oxford and Cherwell Valley College and Abingdon and Witney College in LPNs (POLAR3 quintile 1 areas). Progress on this target will be measured and evaluated on a yearly cycle using widening participation indicators in line relation to Access programmes Strengthen the existing progression accord with HEFCE UK performance indicatorsthe University of Oxford’s Department of Continuing Education, enabling students to progress from their Certificate of Higher Education. Student success target The College has set progression milestones Develop a target to reduce non- continuation rates for all full-time students progression accord with Oxford Brookes University in appropriate subjects, starting with Law. Student retention milestones Extend the personal tutoring system in 2012/13. Establish a student mentoring programme from LPN (POLAR3, quintile 1) from 14% to 6% by 2021new entrance in 2012/13. This will be achieved through Develop the implementation of a Student Mentor scheme that will offer social support and signpost those students ‘at risk’ of non-continuation to college support services. The College will facilitate accommodation for personal study and support distance learning (where mitigating circumstances deem this appropriate). The use of induction activities and HE Student Union activities will be further developed to promote student engagement, enhancement and belonging. A number of HE tutors are currently in the process of gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, this process will see HE tutors reflect on their own performance and practice. This in turn will support student success through the continued improvements in teaching and learning. Performance and progress with be measured and evaluated on a yearly cycle, using non-continuation rates and module completion rates. This measure is in line with HEFCE UK performance indicators. Progression target The College has set a target to increase progression onto further study or graduate level employment for those young, full-time, first degree achievers from LPN (POLAR3, quintile 1) from 84% to 90% by 2021, with an interim milestone target after two years, of 87% in 2019. The College will work with local employers and those in professional careers to build on and increase the national figure of 84.5% (this figure is related to 16% of Further Education Colleges 2012/13). The intention is to close the gap in employment for this group between FEC and HEI graduates. The College will engage with already established links with employers to source work placements for undergraduates. Progress on this target will be measured and evaluated through follow up contact with leavers after six months. This will ascertain the number of graduates in employment or in further study. Collaborative and long-term outreach targets Activities to increase access to higher education through collaborative and long-term outreach work will include the following: Continue to build on the collaborative outreach work, by developing resources and activities in schools, ensuring schools and pupils are receiving the support and information they need to progress onto higher education. Developing drop-in sessions and workshops, as well as one-to-one appointments from a dedicated HE engagement team; student finance advice team; careers team; additional learning support team. Providing drop-in sessions and workshops to raise aspirations and confidence in order to raise participation from identified target groups, such as looked-after children. Working closely with schools around family and community learning events to raise participation from target groups. Monitoring and evaluation arrangements The Principal and Vice Principal for Curriculum have overall responsibility for the Access Agreement. Monitoring of progress on targets set by the College will be the responsibility of the Academic Panel. This panel meets twice throughout the academic year and receives an Academic Panel Report from each course leader detailing not only the quality of provision, but also information and data regarding all aspects of the student lifecycle. Therefore, access, success and progression will be reviewed at this level to ensure quality, consistency and that milestone targets are being met. The Academic Panel will then report its findings to the Higher Education Quality Assurance Committee (HEQAC). The HEQAC, who also meet twice during the academic year, are responsible for the following strategic developments: overall college performance evaluation; overall quality assurance and standards; any actions arising from QAA reviews; and ensuring any actions are implemented and completed in the appropriate timeframe. A HE student representative is invited to both the Academic Panel and the HEQAC. The College also holds a HE Forums throughout the year. This forum is an arena for HE tutors to share good practice, inform and update HE staff on developments within the sector and to support Continued Professional Development specifically for HE. The forum will be used to support HE staff in monitoring and achieving targets set at course level as part of the Access Agreement. Evaluation of activities Evaluation of the effectiveness of student lifecycle activities will be undertaken by:  Tracking the progress of students who participate in collaborative and outreach activities to see whether the activities result in improved recruitment to higher education  Collecting participant feedback to evaluate the impact of activities on attitudes and aspirations towards higher education, and whether this results in improved attainment of participants  Gathering feedback from student ambassadors and academic staff on the effectiveness of activities to improve success and retention  Utilise the HEFCE Toolkits and the experience of our university and FEC partners to review activities against benchmarks  Use of KIS and NSS data for national comparisons of student satisfaction rates  Use of DLHE data for national comparisons of progression into employment or postgraduate study Provision of Information to Prospective Students The College will provide information relating to finance and current course fees for students via the following platforms: WMC HE Prospectus – this publication contains information for students about the first port of call for guidance on the application process, including contact details of student advisers. Information will also include associated tuition fees, loans and grants. The document also contains details around making an application IT infrastructure for student support. College Website – the website includes up to date student fee information, as well as information around loans and bursaries. HE Events and Open Days – Teaching staff and support through investment in e-learning Support Staff will provide advice and guidance to potential students and associated family members. The College also attends external events and presents exhibitions within the local community Galleries and such events will also be a vehicle to raise student awareness of the financial options available to them to study at HE level. UCAS and SLC – the College provides information to UCAS and the Student Loan Company in order to ensure that accurate information is available to potential students. The College will comply with all associated deadlines through the College’s HE Administrator. CMA - In accordance with the Competition and Markets Authority guidance, all information provided to students is distributed resources in a durable medium new academic building and subsequent changes to that information is brought to the attention of students. Consultation with Students The College proactively seeks to encourage all students to engage library opening in all aspects of college life and processes, which enable students to communicate with staff in a range of ways and levels. Students’ views are valued by the College, and the engagement between students and staff allows consideration of new ideas and ways of working, and also ways to resolve issues, resulting in enhancement of the students' experience. WMC students have been directly involved in the development of the OFFA Access Agreement, and they have been consulted over the proposed tuition fees and how the plan will be implemented. A copy of the draft document was sent to the College Manager for Student Engagement who has discussed the content of the agreement with HE student representatives. In addition the HE Director and Manager have held seminars with both HE and FE Level 3 course groups, to discuss the content of the agreement. A proforma was given to students and their feedback has been collated and consequently aspects of the agreement were amended. For example the bursary as a fixed sum rather than other options was preferred by student representatives. Other additional amendments have also been included within the agreement. Student representatives are also members of the HE quality committees within the College and they have attended meetings where discussion around the implementation of the Access Agreement has been discussed. Currently all HE quality committees meet every term, as do the HE Forum and HE Student Union. Feedback and actions from the committees are forwarded to the College leadership team where necessary, otherwise actions are implemented through the Directors for each curriculum area concerned. When students are inducted at the College they receive a considerable amount of information regarding the opportunities that are available to them, both educational and in terms of quality processes. Also, as the academic year progresses further opportunities will be promoted to students. It was thought that because of the amount of information given at the start of their course, students may not take on board all of the opportunities available to them. The new HE student handbook is a directory that students can take away and refer to in their own time. The HE handbook contains a student charter and information on how students can become involved in a range of councils, panels and committees, and also become a student representative at the Board of Governors. This enables students to present their views, the views of students within their class group, and the wider student body. The College has a Student Engagement Policy and Implementation Strategy. This details how it will develop and strengthen student representation and participation, and how it might involve students in quality improvement. It also gives details of how the College will measure and report on the impact of student engagementSeptember 2012.