The Scottish Government

Completed Projects

The Scottish Government has recently completed a review of the income assessment in FE and HE. Details of the changes were announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Lifelong Learning on the 15th of February 2008. Full details of the project are contained in the following documents.

Income assessment - final paper

Lines To Take - QA

Provision for Students with Disabilities

The Funding for Disabled Students Project was initiated in April 2005 to review the provision of funding for students with disability related additional needs in Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) in Scotland. The main aim of the project was to consider options to improve the efficient and effective use of the existing financial resource for individual support for disabled students, within the context of institutional funding to support widening access. A further aim of the project was to gather initial views on the feasibility and desirability of introducing a single system of individual student support based on need, regardless of method of study.

An initial Q and A document was produced for the project.

A paper outlining the current provision was produced by the project team.

The project team carried out a number of case studies with colleges and universities across Scotland. A paper outlining the results is available from this site.

Case Studies Paper - Introduction

Case Studies Paper - FE

Case Studies Paper - HE and Conclusions

A paper on statistical and financial information has been produced

The project team reviewed support in other countries to produce the international support paper

Following analysis of the above papers, the issues and actions paper was produced

You can read the final project report here

IAG

This project was set up to develop proposals for the delivery of improved information, advice and guidance (IAG) on funding available for learners.

has been agreed upon. For more information please seeThe project begun in October 2003 and is now reaching the end of the project phase. An implementation plan for improved IAGIAG implementation page.

Hardship Funds

This project was set up to consider the current structure, admin, delivery, effectiveness of the hardship funds in HE/ FE.

The project begun in January 2004 and was completed in February 2005. After considering various options, a new discretionary fund for childcare in higher education will be created which will replace the childcare element of the mature student bursary fund (MSBF). For more information on this seeresidencypage

Career Development Loans (CDLs)

This project was set up to look at how we could develop and implement a devolved Career Development Loan scheme in Scotland for 2006/07.

For further information on the outcome of this project seeCareer Development Loans.

Monthly Payments for Higher Education Students

This project was set up in October 2004 and a Delivery Group was established to look in detail at the options for changing the amounts and frequency of HEliving costs (Student Loans and Young Student's Bursary) student support payments from academic year 2006-07 and beyond. Further details can be viewed from ourdelivery of fundingpage

The Executive has now announced that, subject to all the necessary IT requirements being in place, from academic year 2007-2008, students ordinarily resident in Scotland and studying in Scotland will have their loan and bursary support paid, by the Students Awards Agency for Scotland, on a monthly basis with some initial frontloading of support.

Learner Support Communications Strategy

This project was set up to consider how to improve the provision of Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) to current and prospective learners and their advisers, on the full range of the Scottish Government's funding support for learners for 2008-09 and beyond.

Evaluation of learners' and their advisers' perceptions of IAG had shown that there are issues around the accessibility, accuracy and consistency of IAG on learner funding. These issues mean that we need to do more to raise public awareness of what the current and future funding system will offer prospective and existing learners in Scotland.