Goal 1: Policies, processes and practices
The following page outlines specific policies, processes and practices in support of Sustainable Development Goal 1 No Poverty.
Support for low-income students
We have targets to admit students who fall into the bottom 20% of household income group in the country. Our most recent Access and Participation Plan includes a target for closing the participation gap between the most and least disadvantaged. Our undergraduate Recruitment Strategy, which is presently being created, maintains a commitment to performing in the top quartile of the Russell Group in terms of admitting students from the lowest financial quintile, (Section 1).
Our university has graduation/completion targets for students who fall into the bottom 20% of household income group in the country. We monitor the continuation and degree attainment of students from low-income households; an assessment of our performance is included in our Access and Participation Plan. We have a target to reduce the attainment gap between students from the most and least advantaged areas, as measured by the UK government’s Index of Multiple Deprivation.
We provide a range of support for students from low-income families to enable them to complete university. This includes financial support, free legal services (e.g. on landlord and tenant law), technology and resources to support their study, as well as free transport.
We have a range of programmes and initiatives to assist students who fall into the bottom 20% of household income in the country to successfully complete their studies. Some of the financial initiatives we provide, includes The Manchester Bursary, Undergraduate Access Scholarships and our Living Cost Support Fund. Students in the bottom financial quintile are each entitled to these. Our Help me get online initiative recognises that not all students (especially those in bottom quintile) have access to a laptop or Wi-Fi so provides various methods of support with IT costs.
We also provide schemes to support poor students from low or lower-middle income countries. Jointly funded by the University and the generosity of donors, our Equity and Merit scholarships cover the whole of the student’s experience, from fees to living expenses and travel home. We also offer scholarships for undergraduate study intended to help sanctuary seekers progress into higher education under our Article 26 Scholarship programme.
Community support
We provide free assistance in the local community supporting the start-up of financially and socially sustainable businesses through expanding the training and access to facilities to people in local communities. Our Masood Entrepreneurship Centre offers free resources to support the community at any stage of business planning. We have opened the top floor of our University museum for free to incubate and support start-up and micro social justice and environmental charities and businesses to come together and collaborate.
We provide a range of free financial assistance to the local community to support the start-up of financially and socially sustainable businesses. This includes support for local community members starting businesses who are former students, as well as current staff and students, to work with local communities on start-up businesses through our Masood Entrepreneurship Centre. We have established a University Construction Community Fund which offers grants of up to £2,000 to the local community, specifically to support financially and socially sustainable businesses.
Policy addressing poverty
We are participating in policy making at local, regional, national and global level to implement programmes and practical policies to tackle poverty in all its dimensions. Locally (in Greater Manchester), regionally (across the Northwest) and nationally (across the UK) we have developed strategies and devised practical policies and training programmes to understand and address poverty in education, museum and third sector settings through our Local Matters project. Globally, our Global Development Institute group is implementing policies to end poverty in all its dimensions. This includes developing policies in the areas of inclusive growth, family poverty, fuel poverty, poverty in older age, poverty indicators, direct transfer payment in the global south and much more.