March/April 2004
News

Widening Participation and Research at University

The University's growth plans are set to continue after being awarded over £31 million in funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) this year.

The total publicly-funded* resource available for the University has increased by 5.6% compared with last year's figure.

The HEFCE funding includes more than £700,000 for the further growth of Foundation Degrees - an increase of more than 12% compared with last year's amount.

Foundation degrees are a key Government initiative that aim to fill skills gaps and give more people access to higher education.

The University has recently launched the first Foundation Degrees in the UK in Education and Training Policy and in Community Justice as well as a Foundation Degree in Community Regeneration and Development - offered at only one other University in the UK.

University research funds from HEFCE have also increased this year by 6.25% to over £6 million - significantly above the average increase in cash terms of 3.9%.

University Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Taylor said: "We welcome this further support at a time of rapid change in higher education.

"The increased funding means that we can continue to be a leading University in widening participation - providing a wide range of vocational higher education courses as well as offering vital support for students to succeed in their future careers.

"The increased support for research underlines Bradford's reputation for high-quality research and we intend to use the funding to focus on, and support, our excellent regional, national and international research status."

*Publicly-funded resources are those funds awarded by HEFCE combined with assumed fees from Home and EU undergraduates.

16 April 2004

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