Top University Places Should be Saved for State School Pupils

Vince Cable, the Skills Secretary, has proposed that bright children from poorer homes should benefit from better access to the UK’s top universities through reserved places.  His proposals raise the possibility of quotas for state school children and a potential loosening of the grip of fee-paying schools on Oxbridge.  Mr Cable has warned that the best universities should not become “disconnected” from wider society, and has urged more radical options to address the widening gulf between the intake of Britain’s top college and the make-up of the country.  

Bright children from the poorest homes are currently seven times less likely to attend top universities than their wealthier peers, partly because their schools do not offer sought-after subjects such as modern
foreign languages or single sciences.  This gap has grown from 15 years ago when the richest were six times more likely to get a place in the top third of universities according to a government-commissioned review in 2010. 

Mr Cable warned that he did not want to follow the previous Government’s rout of trying to dictate Oxbridge admissions for particular individuals, but said that more radical options will need to be encouraged, such as reserving a number of places for pupils from each of a wide range of schools. 

The educational charity, the Sutton Trust, said that Mr Cable’s proposals will be controversial. The charity is piloting s project with two universities to identify promising but disadvantaged schoolchildren and help them get the grades required.  The Trust has called for fresh thinking on widening participation, acknowledging that there has been some progress on widening access to higher education. 

The Russell Group, representing the UK’s top universities, has warned that quota scheme for admission had failed elsewhere in the world, citing the 10 per cent rule applied in Texas under which students who graduated in the top 10 per cent of their high school class win automatic admission to state-funded universities; the rule was passed in 1997 and was meant to ensure geographic and ethnic diversity in universities. Critics say it discriminates against applicants with other credentials such as extra-curricular activities or personal attributes.   The Russell Group says that it is happy to discuss new ideas to encourage students from all backgrounds, but warned against schemes which would divert resources from other more successful programmes that have been introduced in the UK.  The Russell Group of universities—representing the top 20 research institutions—less than 5 per cent of students came from neighbourhoods that traditionally see few children studying for a degree.  Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency also revealed that one-tenth of young people who attend university from backgrounds with traditionally low participation dropped out after their first year. 

Source: The Guardian, 15th July 2010