Education Fund

About

WIHEA and IATL have launched a jointly supported Education Fund for staff-led strategic projects that support the new Education and Student Experience Strategy.

Guidance about funding call themes and project proposals for the 2024/25 funding call (now closed) is below. Interested applicants for the fund are encouraged to speak to their Head of Department at the earliest opportunity before applying (see 'Approvals').

The 2024/25 funding call closed in November 2024 and we will follow up with applicants about outcomes.

Information about the next funding call for 2025/26 will be published here in due course.

Consultation Session

We held an online consultation session about the 2024/25 funding call for interested applicants in October 2024. A recording of the session can be found below. Please note that funding call information for 2025/26 is not yet confirmed and may differ from the recording. Contact us if you have any questions (educationfund@warwick.ac.uk).

Key Project Application Information

Project Themes/Strategic Priorities

The 2024/25 funding call invites projects that address at least one of the following areas aligned with the priorities of the Warwick Education and Student Experience Strategy:

· Assessment

· Feedback

· Curriculum design

· Innovation in education practices

· Building leadership in education.

Since the Fund’s purpose is to support strategic projects, it is expected that projects will involve collaboration between at least two academic and/or central service departments.

Applications should clearly explain how the proposed project would address the strategic priority or priorities, and what impact the project would have on delivering an excellent educational experience for Warwick students.

Applications also need to address how project outcomes would be embedded, sustained and scaled up.

Student Participation and Engagement

Projects must engage with students throughout the project lifecycle to ensure that staff and student perceptions and interests are understood and aligned accurately. Staff and students should work together from the earliest possible stage to develop, implement and evaluate projects. If wished, applications can include a student co-lead, alongside the staff lead, but this is not required.

Student participatory practices can take a range of forms, including student co-creation, student advisory boards and focus groups to name only a few. The application form includes a section for applicants to explain how they plan to engage with students throughout the proposed project. Student payment information is included in the Budget section of this guidance.

Funding Levels and Timescales

Projects can apply for any amount up to £15,000, although this higher level of funding is exceptional. The higher the amount applied for, the greater is the expected strategic impact.

All applications must provide a detailed budget breakdown. Projects should be delivered within this financial year, with all funds spent by 31 July 2025. Please note: some proposed project activity can extend beyond the 31 July 2025 spending deadline, as long as this activity would not involve any cost.

Projects should start no earlier than January 2025, to allow time for the review process.

On an exceptional basis, projects can apply to be delivered over two years. This is only where there is a clear case and is dependent upon approval. Projects applying for two years of funding must include a detailed budget for each financial year (financial years start 1 August and end 31 July), with all funds to be spent by 31 July 2026.

Funding awarded will be transferred to the Project Lead’s department at the start of the project. The Project Lead is responsible for ensuring that funding is spent within the financial year in which it has been awarded, and that all expenditure complies with University Financial Regulations and Procedures.

Funding cannot be transferred from one financial year to the next and unspent funds remaining at the end of the respective financial year(s) will be forfeited. Please note that any overspend of the award must be met by the Project Lead’s department.

We will notify applicants of funding call outcomes by mid-December 2024.

To allow time for the review process, projects should start no earlier than January 2025.

Budget guidance including student payments

Project funding is provided mainly to pay for students’ time and general project costs. It may also be used to cover additional staffing costs (e.g. project manager), subject to approval as part of application review. Please note that buy-out of staff time is not permitted. In addition, project funding will not normally cover the purchase or use of equipment, or fees to publish material in a journal or on a platform.

The standard rate we support for student co-creators or similar roles is FA4 spinal point 16. Ensure you budget for the Unitemps bill rate, which is higher than the hourly pay rate that the students will receive since it includes holiday pay plus the Unitemps fee. Click here to see the Unitemps rates Link opens in a new window(October 2024). For longer projects, please note that Unitemps rates normally increase every year in August.

Also consider whether over the course of your project, students will be paid at the pre-AWR or the higher post-AWR rate. Broadly, the post-AWR rate is paid after 12 weeks of work. See Unitemps for more information.

For student focus groups or surveys, participants can receive a voucher to acknowledge their time and participation. Voucher provision should be in accordance with university guidelines and approved via your Department Administrator and have the appropriate ethical clearance. Under current guidelines, departments can approve vouchers of up to a maximum of £25 per person for research participants.

Approvals Required

All applications require supporting statement for the lead applicant(s), received by the deadline. Approvals should be attached to the application, or if this is not possible, emailed to educationfund@warwick.ac.uk ensuring we receive them by the deadline.

Staff

Head of Department (HoD) approval is required for the staff project lead who is listed in section 1.2 of the application form. Attach to the application a document or email which includes a statement of support for the project from the project lead’s HoD and their signature. An email will be taken as electronic signature.

If a staff member is co-leading a project, they should be listed as a project co-lead in section 1.7 of the application form (which asks about roles within the team) and the staff co-lead will also need HoD approval.

Approval is also required from the HoD of a Warwick staff member if they are part-time and funding would be used to pay for their project work outside their usual part-time role.

Additional HoD approvals can be provided via document or email in the same way as for the named project lead, as above.

Student co-lead (if applicable)

For an undergraduate or Masters student co-lead, approval is required from their Personal Tutor (PT) or equivalent. Approval can be provided via a document or email which includes a statement of support for the project and the PT’s signature. An email will be taken as electronic signature.

For a PhD student co-lead, two approvals are required. These are:

Statement of support from their PhD supervisor
Approval from their Head of Department.

For both approvals, please submit a document or email which includes a statement of support for the project and their signature. An email will be taken as electronic signature.

Please note that for the purposes of the Education Fund, PhD students are considered students (rather than staff), including if they are undertaking paid teaching work at the university.

Applications missing any required approvals after the deadline will be rejected.