The latest report from the Office for Fair Access (Offa) has provoked mixed reactions. The way you interpret its findings will probably depend on whether you’re a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of person.

Offa’s job is to make sure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are able to access higher education. This mandate stems from Labour’s commitment in the nineties to use education as a way to improve social mobility (Tony Blair’s “Education, Education, Education” line is so well-known it’s become a cliché). Leaving aside the political question of whether this has been achieved, it’s clear that Offa has an important role – and one that became even more important after top-up fees were introduced in 2006. Once that happened, there wasn’t just political pressure on tertiary institutions to improve access, but a financial incentive too: because top-up fees could significantly increase their revenues.

So what did Offa find? First, the good news. In 2009-10, 77% of UK institutions met their accessibility targets. They collectively spent £395 million on access measures – almost a quarter of their top-up revenue. Of that, £356 million was spent on bursaries and scholarships – money that goes straight into the pockets of students who need it.  And of the 402,000 students who received money, 67.3% of them were from the lowest income group.

But then, these figures can just as easily be turned around. For example, if three-quarters of institutions are meeting their targets, then a quarter aren’t. And while it might seem obvious to point at the usual suspects – the country’s “elite” universities – things aren’t so clear-cut. Also, when you do the maths on the bursary money, the average per student is just £935 – maybe enough to buy some textbooks and a cheapish laptop, but probably not much more. Although, it should be remembered that most of those students also receive a state maintenance grant. The government has recently come to the party here too: while the cut-off for a full grant is still a household income of £25,000 or lower, partial grants have come down from £60,000 to £50,000.

Of course, the elephant in the room is that many institutions will treble their fees next year, to the maximum £9,000. According to Offa, universities have committed to spending the same proportion of fee revenue on accessibility – roughly 25%. Which means, obviously, that it’ll be a much bigger pot. The question though, is whether that’ll be enough to make a substantial difference to those students who need it most – and whether universities will keep to this commitment. To keep the pressure on, the government is considering giving Offa the power to fine universities that don’t front up.

Only time will tell whether these measures will be enough to offset public perceptions of fee increases. Because the danger now is that it’s not just the poorest households who see higher education as unaffordable – average families are starting to think twice too.

Related posts:

1. Tuition fees are on the move – again.
2. University fees: a race to the top.
3. Tuition fees: Could the UK really be facing its own brain drain?
4. University: more than just an education
5. Survey reveals rising cost of university is biggest student concern