Similar student support in very different places: the impacts of undergraduate bursaries in two Russell Group universities

Bursaries are an integral component of WP strategies within UK Higher Education. Therefore, it is imperative that they succeed in accomplishing their goal; even more so at a time where UK students are increasingly struggling financially. While the (light) evidence suggests bursaries can help students from lower-income families ‘get on’ at university in the same way as their more affluent peers, there is a lack of research on how ‘place’ affects bursary effectiveness; this study aims to fill that gap. We compare student survey data and education and employment outcomes using two very different Russell Group universities as case studies to better understand how bursary delivery context affects the bursary’s effectiveness. While bursaries provided a substitute for earned income or family resources in both universities, our analysis also showed that bursary holders differed significantly from non-holders in only one of the two case study universities in other areas, such as perceptions of financial position and post-university outcomes. The findings show that bursaries work, albeit to different extents in different places, confirming a spatial element to bursary provision. The characteristics of the cohort overall may alter the way in which bursaries are perceived. Finally, we consider how the results are impacted by changing student finances since our surveys.