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CHAPTER 4: USAGE OF "HELPING YOU MEET THE COST OF LEARNING" LEAFLETS

4.1 This chapter examines the usage of the "Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets in more detail, including data in relation to levels and frequency of usage of specific titles, attitudes towards these leaflets, their perceived importance and usefulness and levels of demand for additional copies. This chapter focuses on the views of intermediaries.

OVERALL USAGE OF "HELPING YOU MEET THE COST OF LEARNING LEAFLETS"

4.2 Those intermediaries who said that they had used the "Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets in general were asked to state spontaneously which specific leaflets from the full range they had used. As seen in table 4.1, the leaflet mentioned spontaneously by highest proportions of respondents across the overall sample was "Your guide to funding" (36%), with "Part-time study" being the only other individual leaflet mentioned by more than a quarter (27%) of those asked the question.

4.3 Fewer proportions of respondents had used "Students with dependent children" (18%), "Funding for disabled students" (15%) and the leaflet on support for young Scottish students (15%). Only 6% had used the leaflet on asylum seekers - although this is likely to reflect the numbers and distribution of asylum seekers in Scotland - and only 1% had used the leaflet on Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK.

4.4 Almost half (47%) of those questioned could not remember or did not know which individual leaflets they had used, suggesting a general lack of familiarity with each of these.

4.5 Although the base size for each of the sub-groups is relatively small, some initial indicators can be identified.

• Over half intermediaries within secondary schools (90%), broader advisory groups (60%) and community/voluntary groups (57%) said they did not know or could not remember what leaflets they had used, indicating a lack of detailed involvement with the leaflets in the series for these sub-groups;
• Of the remaining sub-groups, Formal IAG Providers and Learndirect Scotland had the highest claimed usage for the "Your guide to funding" leaflet (53% and 51% respectively);
• Universities/colleges had above average claimed usage for many of the publications including "Part-time study" (53%), "Funding for disabled students" (40%), "support available for young Scottish students in higher education" (33%) and the leaflet on "Asylum seekers, refugees, migrant workers and EU nationals" (13%). The base size for university and college respondents was low for this question at only 15 interviewees;
• Formal IAG providers, had above average claimed usage for "Part-time study" (45%), "Students with dependent children" (38%) and the leaflet dealing with support for young Scottish students (40%).

Table 4.1
"Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets used (spontaneous)

Source: Q7a
Base: All used each of "Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets

4.6 Larger organisations (those with more than 50 employees) had the highest level of respondents saying they did not know which leaflets they had used (67%), with those with 11 to 50 (38%) or fewer employees (40%) having notably lower levels. Those with less than five queries a month were more likely to say they did not know which leaflets had been used than those with 5 to 25 or more than 25 queries (67% compared to 39% and 37%).

4.7 Respondents were then prompted with a list of the leaflets that they had not mentioned spontaneously and were asked which other ones they had used. Table 4.2 shows the total level of claimed usage (either spontaneous or prompted). As would be expected, following prompting, claimed usage levels for each leaflet rose significantly, with only 9% of respondents claiming that they could not remember which leaflets they had used.

4.8 "Your Guide to Funding", "Part-time study", "Students with dependent children", "Funding for disabled students" and "Support available for young Scottish students in higher education" were all used by around half of all respondents or more, with the highest levels for "Your guide to funding" (used by 71%) and "Part-time study" (used by 63%).

4.9 Lowest usage was seen for the leaflet on asylum seekers (26%) and the leaflet dealing with Scottish students wanting to study elsewhere in the UK (used by 14%).

4.10 Key sub-group usage for each leaflet showed the following:

• Highest overall usage for "Your guide to funding" was seen by formal IAG providers (78%) and Learndirect Scotland (74%);
• "Part-time study" had relatively high claimed usage among most groups and particularly among universities/colleges (93%) and formal IAG providers (90%). Usage among secondary school interviewees was lowest at a level of 5%;
• Claimed usage for "Students with dependent children" was particularly high for university/college respondents (73%) and formal IAG providers (75%), although understandably, this was not used at all by secondary schools and not very often by community/voluntary groups (14%);
• Universities had the highest level of usage for the leaflet dealing with funding for disabled students (73%), with slightly lower usage by formal IAG providers (60%). Lowest usage was among secondary school interviewees (14%);
• Highest levels of usage of the leaflet on available support for Scottish students in higher education came from universities (82%), formal IAG providers (78%) and secondary schools (67%). The lowest level of usage was by Learndirect Scotland respondents (23%);
• The leaflet dealing with asylum seekers, refugees etc was used by 73% of universities and not at all by secondary school respondents;
• The leaflet on Scottish students wanting to study elsewhere in the UK was used by just over a quarter (30%) of formal IAG providers and 19% of secondary school respondents;
• Highest levels of non recall came from Learndirect Scotland respondents (13%), secondary schools (14%) and broader advisory Groups (12%).

Table 4.2
"Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets used (total: spontaneous and prompted)

Source: Q7a/b

Base: All respondents using each "Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflet

4.11 Differences by size of organisation showed that usage of the "Students with dependent children" leaflet was lower among organisations with more than 50 employees (38% compared to 53% for the total sample), with those with 11-50 employees having low usage of the "Asylum seekers" leaflet (17% compared to 26% for the total).

4.12 More differences were seen in terms of number of queries a month where, as expected, usage was lower for those with less than five queries a month than those with 5-25 and, in particular, 26 or more queries a month and this pattern was noted for each individual leaflet or factsheet.

FREQUENCY OF USAGE OF SEETLLD LEAFLETS

4.13 All intermediaries who said (spontaneously or when prompted) that they used a specified leaflet were then asked to state how frequently they had used that particular leaflet (see table 4.3). Those showing greatest proportions of usage by respondents were not necessarily those with the most frequent levels of usage. However, the leaflet used by highest proportions of respondents - "Your guide to funding" - was the most frequently used, with around a third (32%) of those who ever used the leaflet using it weekly, and a further 35% using it monthly. On average the leaflet was used 22 times a year by users.

4.14 A similar pattern for frequency of usage was seen for the leaflet dealing with young higher education students, with 30% using it weekly, 35% monthly and it being used on average 21 times per year.

4.15 Average usage was also relatively high for the leaflets concerning part-time study (18 times a year), asylum seekers (17 times) and students with dependent children (16 times). Usage was lower for those dealing with study for Scottish students elsewhere in the UK and funding for disabled respondents (both 13 times per year).

Table 4.3
Frequency of usage of "Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets

Source: Q7c
Base: All respondents using each leaflet

4.16 Respondents who used each leaflet were also asked how often they used leaflets in certain circumstances (as shown in table 4.4). A large majority claimed to have used this "all" or "some" of the time for each type of situation presented to them, and over half in each instance (between 52% and 62%) said they used the leaflets some of the time for each circumstance.

4.17 The highest proportion saying that they used the leaflets all of the time in certain circumstances were for handing it over (34%) or referring it (also 34%) to current or potential learners.

4.18 Only one in four or less respondents claimed to never use these leaflets for any of the situations presented to them.

Table 4.4
Frequency of usage of "Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets in certain circumstances

Source: Q10
Base: All respondents using any specified leaflet

4.19 When we look at sub-groups in terms of size of organisation and/ or number of queries dealt with:

• Organisations with more than 50 employees (29%) were most likely to use the leaflets all the time as a source of information for themselves; only 10% of those with fewer than five queries indicated likewise;
• No notable differences were seen in terms of always handing the leaflets over to current or potential learners;
• Those organisations with ten or fewer employees were least likely to always refer the leaflets to current or potential learners (25%);
• Organisations with more than 25 queries a month were most likely (31%) to always hand the leaflets to others such as colleagues;
• No differences were seen in the extent to which each group always used the leaflets to refer to others;
• The highest proportion saying they always used the leaflets as a source of their own literature or information were those with more than 25 queries a month (33%) or, particularly, those with more than 50 employees (40%).

BENEFITS OF "YOUR GUIDE TO FUNDING" LEAFLET

4.20 A number of different statements were read out to interviewees who had used the overview "Your guide to funding", and they were then asked the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each. 4,21 As can be seen in chart 4.1, the large majority of respondents agreed either strongly or tended to agree with each statement, with the lowest level of agreement being 76% who said that the leaflet helped to eliminate duplications and inconsistencies across material from different organisations. Around half all respondents agreed strongly that the material provided them with access to good quality summary information (53%), that it provided them with access to consistent information (46%) or that it provided them with access to accurate information (47%).

4.22 Around a third agreed strongly that it provided a clear and learner focussed overview of the support available to adult learners (37%), a more holistic approach to enable potential learners to be aware of the available funding options (33%), information to assist intermediaries in providing their own material (32%) or helping to eliminate duplications and inconsistencies apparent between different organisations' materials (30%).

Chart 4.1
Agreement with benefits of overview guide "Your Guide to Funding"

4.22 Further analysis showed no notable difference in response according to the number of employees in each organisation or the number of queries dealt with per month.

RANKING OF LEAFLETS IN TERMS OF IMPORTANCE

4.23 Respondents from intermediary organisations who had used any of the "Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets were asked to rank each in terms of importance.

4.24 "Your guide to funding" was the most highly rated leaflet, with over half (61%) of interviewees stating it was their first choice of those they had used, and most of the remaining respondents (21%) having it as their second choice. The only other leaflet which was rated as first choice by more than a quarter of those who had used it was the leaflet dealing with support for young Scottish students in Higher Education (46%). This demonstrates a trend that the most highly rated leaflets were those that were suitable for the greatest number of learners and potential learners. This may also be related to frequency of usage with greatest recall of leaflets that are used most frequently.

4.25 The leaflet for students with dependent children was rated first by 23% of interviewees and was second choice for just over a fifth (21%). While "part-time study" and the leaflet relating to funding for disabled students were first choice for 12% and 11% of those who used them the former was second choice for 43%, and the latter second choice for only 26%.

4.26 The remaining leaflets were ranked as first, second or third choice by only small proportions of intermediaries.

Chart 4.2
Ranking of importance of leaflets

USEFULNESS OF LEAFLETS

4.27 In order to further examine the opinion of respondents regarding the leaflets they had used, interviewees were also asked to rate each leaflet they had used in terms of its usefulness, using a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 meant they were not at all useful and 10 that they were extremely useful.

4.28 Results for this question were generally similar to the importance rankings given to the leaflets earlier. The overview of learner funding "Your guide to funding" had a high average score of 7.75, slightly below the 7.86 score for the leaflet on supporting young Scottish students in Higher Education. Again, the leaflet on "Part-time study" was relatively highly ranked, with an average score of 7.56.

4.29 Average scores for the leaflets on disabled students, students with dependent children and information for new HE Scottish students outwith Scotland were slightly lower with average scores of 7.51, 7.42 and 7.26 respectively.

4.30 Small differences were seen for two leaflets when their perceived usefulness was compared to their rating when compared to other leaflets. The leaflet dealing with asylum seekers, refugees, migrant workers and EU nationals was the third most highly rated in terms of usefulness (average score of 7.66) but was the sixth most highly rated when respondents were asked to directly rank the leaflets in terms of importance. Likewise, the leaflet dealing with students with dependent children was given the sixth highest average rating (7.42) in terms of usefulness, but was the third highest when respondents ranked the leaflets they used in terms of overall importance. These differences clearly suggest that there is not always a strong link between a leaflet being seen as important and it being seen as useful; and may relate more to how complex or specialist the topic is seen to be or to how salient the topic is to the intermediary or within their circle.

Chart 4.3
Usefulness of leaflets (average score)

4.31 All 174 intermediaries who stated that they had used the "Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets were asked the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a number of statements about the leaflets. Responses (as detailed in chart 4.4) show that respondents generally were very positive about each, with very few interviewees tending to disagree or disagreeing strongly with any statement.

4.32 Views for each statement were positive, with a large majority of intermediaries agreeing, to any extent, with each and they were most positive about the usefulness of providing direction to other advice sources (average score of 3.62). Around one in two or more respondents agreed strongly that providing direction to other advice sources at the back is useful (61%); that the leaflet/fact sheet on learner funding is very useful (52%); or that the information is clear, concise and easily understood (49%).

Chart 4.4
Agreement with statements on "Helping you meet the cost of learning" leaflets

4.33 There was little by way of differences in average scores according to size of organisation or the number of queries dealt with each month.

4.34 During the telephone interviews, all intermediaries were asked whether or not they had ordered any additional copies of the leaflets from Blackwells. All who stated they used a leaflet were asked whether they had ordered more copies, with results being shown in chart 4.5.

4.35 The vast majority (77%) of those who had used any of the leaflets said they did not need to order any more. The highest level of ordering more leaflets was 11% requesting extra copies of "Your guide to funding". Only very small proportions of respondents had ordered any of the other leaflets. Over three in four (77%) respondents had not ordered additional copies of any of the leaflets. This data suggests that while intermediaries may be making use of the leaflets for providing advice on funding for learners and potential learners, they do not hand out these leaflets regularly to those they are advising, unless they are handing out downloads or printouts.

Chart 4.5
Whether additional copies ordered from Blackwells

4.36 Those who had ordered specific numbers of any publication were asked to state how many copies they had ordered. Results are shown in table 4.5, although the particularly low base sizes for each publication suggest results should be treated as merely indicative. The number of copies ordered varied from an average of 42 for the leaflet on Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK to 170 for the leaflet on asylum seekers, refugees, migrant workers and EU nationals.

Table 4.5
Number ordered of specific publications

Source: Q14b
Base: All respondents who had ordered additional copies of any publication

THE VIEWS OF LEARNERS AND POTENTIAL LEARNERS

4.37 Although most of the respondents attending group discussions were neither aware of nor had used any of the IAG produced by the Scottish Executive, during the course of the groups they were shown the series of guides.

4.38 Views on the materials were mixed. Respondents were frequently positive towards the materials when first reviewing them. They praised the general principle of a series of guides aimed at learners and potential learners. On first view, many respondents considered the booklets to be concise, brief-enough, well laid out and designed to deliver an appropriate level of information; and most welcomed a series of guides aimed at individuals in differing circumstances. The concept particularly appealed to those considering a course after time away from education.

4.39 Yet some individuals became less positive once they examined the leaflets in greater detail. While some learners felt that the information provided was what they needed, others found it difficult to understand and/or felt that the information was too general to provide definitive answers to their questions about funding as it related to their personal circumstances. Some respondents also noted that the information provided was too conditional and couched in such tentative terms that they would still need an expert or adviser to interpret the documents and to advise them on their eligibility.

4.40 One of the best appreciated sections of the Guide to Funding booklet was the Quick Guide table on page 3 that allows easy graphic access to a raft of information about various eligibilities. However, such tables were less appealing - though perhaps because they quickly dashed any raised hopes - in the Part time Study booklet.

4.41 As the following quotations demonstrate, groups were generally split over the use of case studies, with some respondents finding them difficult to relate to, artificial and suspiciously bright and successful, although others finding them helpful and easy to digest.

"They're not going to tell you about the ones who don't get it are they?"

Learners, Town

"I like the idea of case studies…It gave me an idea if you were in similar circumstances what you'd be entitled to or not…"

Potential Part-time, City

4.42 In summary,

• In terms of usage of specific leaflets within the series, the leaflet mentioned spontaneously by highest proportions of respondents across the overall sample was "Your guide to funding" (36%), with "Part-time study" being the only other individual leaflet mentioned by more than a quarter (27%). On prompting, usage levels for each leaflet rose significantly (71% citing "Your guide to funding" and 63% citing "Part-time study").
• The leaflet used by highest proportions of intermediary respondents - "Your guide to funding" - was also the most frequently used, on average 22 times per year. A large majority of intermediaries also claimed to have used leaflets "all" or "some" of the time in a number of situations (82% claim to hand this over to current/potential learners all or some of the time). However, only small proportions of intermediaries had ordered additional copies of any of the leaflets, which contradicts the data on those who are claiming to hand this out to current/potential learners.
• A large majority of intermediaries agreed with a number of benefits to the "Your guide to funding" leaflet in that it:
• Provides access to good quality summary information produced by a central source (98% agreeing), access to consistent information (92% agreeing), access to accurate information (93% agreeing), information to assist in the provision of own material (81% agreeing);
• Is a holistic approach to be aware of available funding options (93% agreeing);
• Is a clear a learner focussed overview of available support (91% agreeing);
• Helps eliminate duplications between different organisations' materials (76% agreeing);
• Fills a wide gap in the current provision of information on funding (82% agreeing).
• When ranking the leaflets in terms of importance, "Your guide to funding" was first choice for 61% of intermediaries, perhaps reflecting its relevance to a wide audience of learners and potential learners. This guide was also ranked highly in terms of its usefulness.
• Helping you meet the cost of learning leaflet was viewed positively by a large majority of intermediaries in terms of:
• Providing direction to other sources of advice (94% agreeing);
• Providing a useful sheet on learner funding (91% agreeing);
• Providing information that is clear, concise and easily understood (96% agreeing);
• Being well laid out (94% agreeing);
• Covering all areas of important re funding (84% agreeing);
• Explaining fully all the issues on funding (86% agreeing).
• Given that most learners and potential learners had problems accessing information on funding for learners, it is not surprising that they were positive about the concept of a series of guides providing this information. The provision of guides aimed at different learner types was also welcomed. However, while initial views were positive on the series of guides, when considered in greater detail, some felt the information was difficult to understand, limited as to relevance, and tentative in its presentation.

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