Council “condemns” Provost Board decision to alter bursary allocations

Union Council on Tuesday voted to “condemn” the College’s Provost Board decision after the changes in bursary allocations for undergraduate students were announced.

A table of figures featured in Tom Wheeler’s Council Report showed the differences between his proposed allocations and the Provost Board’s decision. The table displayed the new allocations for each student on an annual basis, which varies on the income bracket of the student’s family household.

Council members were quick to voice outrage over the changes, with one saying that they were essentially “Anti-Robin Hood”, due to the fact that students from households with a lower income were getting less money at the cost of students from a higher income getting more. Said another Council member, “These changes are essentially evil.”

A statement was drawn up by a member of Council after the paper was discussed, that was then read out towards the end of the meeting so as to be included officially in the minutes. The statement read that “The Imperial College Union Council would like to condemn in the strongest possible terms the Provost Board’s alterations to the bursary structure.

“We feel the College has not consulted extensively enough on this decision and that it does not reflect the needs of low and middle income students.

“We are particularly concerned with the large decrease in support at the £50k boundary and decrease for the poorest students in the under £30k category.

“We call on them to revisit this issue as soon as possible with a full and extensive consultation that fully takes into account all students’ views and needs, and to provide full details of the reasons for any changes made.”

All members of the Union Council passed the statement unanimously.

The Provost Board has decided to reduce the bursary allocation by £1,000 for students from a household of an income of less than £16k, meaning they will now receive £5,000 a year. Those from a household with an income of £16 to £25k have seen an annual reduction of £2,000, with the Provost Board deciding to allocate £4,000 instead of the previous £6,000 they receive.

Meanwhile, those students coming from households with an income above £35k will have seen an increase in the bursaries they receive. Students from a household of £35k to £42k preciously received £1,200 a year, but now will also be looking to receive £4,000 from now on.

At the top of the bracket, students from a household with an income of £55k to £60k will receive £2,000 a year, quadrupling what they previously received before the Provost Board made the changes.

Tom Wheeler explained that he was given a very short window in which to survey students about their living costs, due to the Provost Board keen to make a decision in time for a print deadline of next year’s prospectus. Wheeler ran a forum for students to talk to him in person about their bursaries, and, after turnout was low, ran an online survey open to all those that receive bursaries from the College. He received over 300 responses, which he used to make recommendations to the Provost Board.

However, none of these were reflected exactly in the final figures decided upon by the Provost board, although they did use the survey results to finalise their own figures. Tom Wheeler said in the meeting that Council citing its displeasure at the figures was unlikely to influence a change in the figures in the near future.

In a quote to Felix, Tom Wheeler said: “To ensure student input on the changes to the distribution of the College Bursary, I carried out an Open Forum meeting, as well as an online survey to discuss these changes. The responses I received to these were used to draft a recommendation to Imperial College’s Provost Board.

“There are differences, particularly in the lowest income brackets, between the recommendations I made and the decision that was made. I welcome the increase in support to the students in low-to-middle income brackets, however the decision to decrease funding to the students in the <£16k bracket is concerning.”

John Neilson, the College Secretary & Registrar, told Felix that "In the summer the previous team of Union sabbatical officers had prepared a thoughtful paper suggesting that students who come from households just higher than the lowest income bandings were facing the hardest time financially at Imperial. In the run up to the Provost’s Board the current Union President conducted a very helpful survey of students about their finances and possible changes to bursaries.

“After considering all the evidence carefully, the College has decided to revise the offers of bursaries for new undergraduates from autumn 2016 onwards so that all those whose household income (as declared to the Student Loans Company [SLC]) - below £50,000 will receive a College bursary of £4,000. In addition to this, students also have access to the College’s student hardship funds if they need further support.”