Eligible applications will be assessed against our
assessment criteria.
There is a standard application form for all of Sport England’s
funding streams. To complement this and capture the additional
information of particular relevance to the Active Universities
themed round, we also ask Additional Questions. The additional
questions document must be completed and returned as part of an
application for it to be assessed.
Applications that score poorly against the following criteria
will be rejected. Understanding of these criteria should be
demonstrated within the application form, not just in the
additional questions.
1. Relevance to the theme
Applications must fully demonstrate how they are responding to
the needs of HE students enrolled at universities (as defined by
those HEIs in receipt of HEFCE funding). Projects should address
the challenges to participation for the target group. It is
acknowledged that there may be other beneficiaries but at least 80%
of participants will be HE students.
Applications must solicit the views of the targeted
beneficiaries and show that the application has been developed in
response to this.
In detailing the where, what and how of projects, applications
must present the rationale to explain how the project will attract
students who are currently not participating in three sessions of
30 minutes of at least moderate intensity sporting activity per
week to participate in sport or become more regular
participants.
Key questions
- Who will be the beneficiaries of your project?
- What barriers to participation in sport by
HE
students will your project address and
how will it do so?
- How have you consulted with
HE
students in the development of your
project?
2. Evidence
The quality of the evidence and rationale provided in
applications to the Active Universities Themed Round will be
assessed through its contribution to the other six assessment
criteria.
Applications must provide a sound evidence base and rationale
for why a project has been designed in a particular way and the
impact you anticipate it will have.
Strong applications will be able to provide baselines and have
an understanding of who does and who doesn’t participate. They will
be able to demonstrate how they have solicited the views and wishes
of
those students who will benefit from the proposed activity, and
how that information has been used to inform the design of the
project.
3. Value for money
Projects will be assessed on the basis of value for money in
terms of the number of people who will benefit. We will take into
account both the cost of the project as a whole, and the size of
the grant you are requesting from us. In your application you
should include an estimate of the number of people who will benefit
from your project
4. Ability to deliver
Applications must demonstrate that a project is actually able to
deliver what it has outlined. It should be clear how applicants
will address any resource requirements that the implementation of
the project could create. We are seeking projects that can
demonstrate an ability to start delivery quickly and not be
dependant on academic terms.
Applications must also include robust business planning,
including:
- Showing that the tasks and activities to deliver the outcomes
have been carefully thought through
- Setting realistic timescales and budgets
- Having regular, measurable milestones and deliverables in place
in order to track progress
- Identifying key risks and having plans in place to manage
them
- Good financial health and governance, evidenced through the
track record of the organisation and its referees.
Key questions
- How will you promote your activities to potential
participants?
- Thinking about where the activity will take place and the
capacity to deliver this activity, how can you guarantee that the
project will not be to the detriment of another existing sporting
activity?
- Do you have a clear and realistic timeline for the delivery of
your project?
5. Impact on Sport England’s outcomes
Applications should demonstrate how the project will deliver
opportunities to increase the sporting participation of students
and thus contribute to Sport England’s strategic grow outcome.
We have a target of getting one million people playing more
sport by 2012/13. We want 300,000 of these additional regular
participants to come from the higher and further education sector.
Our aspiration for this themed round is a minimum of 100,000
additional participants from the higher education sector doing
three sessions of 30 minutes of at least moderate intensity
sporting activity per week.
To ensure that Active Universities contributes to this target by
2012/13, we will prioritise projects that can have a significant
impact on our outcomes, whilst remaining value for money and
benefiting as much of the sector as possible.
Projects will need to be clear as to both the nature of their
impact on the targeted group and the size of that impact. This
includes demonstrating what data will be collected about
participation from the project and how this will demonstrate that
its outcomes have been met.
We would like all applicants to demonstrate how they will
deliver an evaluation of the project which provides both
qualitative and quantitative assessment of the success of the
project. This is to ensure that lessons can be learnt and
successful approaches can be replicated.
Key questions
What methods will you use to measure and evaluate your
project?
6. Sustainability
Applications should demonstrate how participation will be
sustained once the project ends or Sport England funding is
exhausted. The outcome of projects should be an increased number of
regular participants in sport amongst HE students.
Key questions
How will your project result in sustained participation in
regular sporting activity?
7. Partnership
All Applications should demonstrate consultation and involvement
with relevant partners who can contribute to the project both from
sporting and non-sporting organisations. Partners should provide
both strategic support and financial backing, in the form of at
least some degree of partner funding in cash or in kind.
Single university applications should also ensure that the
project is developed in partnership with all key internal decision
makers within the university – for example working with the
Students/Athletic Union, the director of sport, the vice chancellor
and the facilities department.
Key questions
- How was the application developed – what was the process and
who was involved in the project development?
- What partners are involved in the application and what does
each of the partners bring to the project?