Whether you look through a lens of improving student mental health, community or belonging, one overarching theme is being involved in a student-led group activity.
But not all of these are affordable or created equal.
And not all students can justify spending money on what they might view as “non-essential” or “unnecessary” extracurricular activities in a context of a cost of living crisis.
Enter participation bursaries – a one-off payment scheme that goes directly into students’ hands if they are unable to afford these opportunities due to their background.
Students fill in an online application with their eligibility, their chosen activities and then eligible students are granted a specific amount of funding. There’s no reimbursement process needed, it sounds pretty straightforward.
Working it out
I joined Newcastle University Students’ Union during freshers’ 2022 to take over the role of administering the (then) £280 participation bursary which was split into three activity specific tiers.
Projects like these help ensure that no one would miss out on the “full student experience.”
And as a previous international student myself, I was aware that opening this up for the first time to postgraduate and international students was huge. It made a loud statement that the SU was for everyone – regardless of their fee status or year of study.
The demand for the bursaries was unreal. Application numbers were overwhelming within mere days of opening and those first few months were definitely a blur to me.
Before we reached the end of term one, £138,484 had been granted to 697 students for the academic year.
Whilst it was a successful scheme, I also knew it had to be better, more efficient and more sustainable.
Success through collaboration
In the university’s Access and Participation Plan, the participation bursaries are identified as an intervention to improve access, success and attainment for specific undergraduate student communities who paid UK/Home fees.
Historically this initiative was only available to home undergraduates.
The availability of alumni funding for the 2022-23 academic year, secured by lobbying from officers, paved the way for opening up the scheme to include all students, including postgraduates and international students.
To showcase the value and necessity of the scheme, I worked closely with colleagues at the university to thoroughly evaluate the scheme to highlight its impact on student inclusion and belonging.
We created and reflected on the theory of change model, setting aims, reflecting on what went well, what needed to change, and how we would get to the desired outcomes.
As the funders of this project, we needed to not only work in partnership with the university but demonstrate its success. University colleagues were able to support logistics, information sharing and reduce administrative burdens.
Collaboration with other SUs
Fast forward two years later, I presented my experience of the scheme, the struggles and future ideas, at Membership Services Conference.
Attendees had ideas, questions and prompts about aspects I hadn’t even considered.
While each SU has slightly different structures, histories and different student demographics, the opportunity to learn what other SUs have tried, why they pursued it, why it did or did not fail, was by far some of the most useful feedback I’d received.
The involvement of university colleagues is incredibly helpful to lend their different perspectives, insights and solutions.
However, the SU being responsible to deliver this kind of funding is crucial to ensure students are always at the forefront of its delivery, continuing to look for innovative ways to improve the experience of application and having maximum impact on as many students as possible.
Looking to the Future
Making extracurriculars more accessible allows all students to meet like-minded peers with shared interests beyond “forced” interactions on their course.
With a strengthened sense of belonging, it lessens the likelihood of them dropping out and provides them with connections and support they can draw on during difficult times. And more often than not, these activities often improve students’ physical and mental wellbeing.
Many SU activities have a minimum cost to get involved, sports clubs can have individual costs from £500/£600 per year up to £1,500. Activities, despite their benefits, are financially inaccessible.
Students can often sign up to a club or society and then be hit with unexpected hidden costs meaning they can no longer afford to get involved, at which point they can’t get a refund.
Access to activities needs to be considered more holistically and communicating costs transparently to students needs to be prioritised.
There’s a few ways SUs could do this:
- Financial audits of specific extracurriculars to increase transparency
- Sustainability initiatives such as donating or renting kit and equipment
- Cost effective travel options for competitions and trips
- Supporting committee members to put on more free events
- Exploring different tiers for memberships with subsidised options
- Being honest with students about where the money they pay goes, that it is often reinvested into student activities.
Of course, that list is not exhaustive and these suggestions won’t be available to every SU. But thinking about the accessibility of activities is a conversation that needs to continue. No matter which lens you look through, access to activities still remains a priority to the student experience.
