To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much funding each relevant education institution received for improving retention in each of the last 10 years.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England allocates funding directly to higher education institutions towards the costs of widening participation activities. Since 2003-04 this allocation has included an element for improving retention, which is intended to increase student success. I have arranged for a table to be placed in the House of Commons Library detailing the amounts of funding allocated to each institution for the four years from 2003-04 to 2006-07. There was no specific allocation to institutions for improving retention prior to 2003-04: institutions then, as now, were expected to support student retention activities from within their overall block grant.
Student success within institutions arises from a wide range of factors including teaching quality and student support services. Supporting student success is therefore intrinsically linked with the total investment that institutions make, of which the improving retention element of the widening participation allocation is just one part.