Universities set to lower entry levels for the poor

UNIVERSITIES are set to lower entrance criteria for poorer students in an attempt to combat ‘elitism’.

They will be forced to publish the minimum grades needed for courses, to encourage more applicants from deprived areas.

The moves follow years of political pressure on principals to widen the social mix in higher education.

Nicola Sturgeon has set a target of youngsters from ‘disadvantaged’ backgrounds making up 20 per cent of the student population by 2030, up from the current 10 per cent.

Official figures show Scotland has the lowest percentage of state school pupils and college students going to university in the UK.

But there are fears middle-class pupils will be squeezed out in the drive to increase the number of children from poorer households.

Warning against ‘social engineering’, Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘A family in Scotland with a main earner on £45,000 isn’t rich, but the SNP seems to have decided they should be penalised for living here, either by hiking their taxes or restricting the chance of a university place. It is anti-aspirational.’

Universities will introduce contextualised admissions – taking into account an applicant’s background as well as their exam grades – and publish the minimum entry requirements for all courses.

Some universities already tell applicants the lowest possible grades for entry but in future all will have to do so, alongside guidance on the grades ‘typically’ required.

This means bright pupils from middle-class backgrounds will have to meet a higher standard than those from poorer families.

University chiefs will make it easier for students to move from college and there will be guaranteed offers for applicants who have been in care who meet minimum entry requirements.

Professor Sally Mapstone, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of St Andrews, led a working group on university admissions.

She said: ‘Scotland is taking a big step forward with contextualised admissions in a concerted bid to widen access at a faster rate. Universities will set minimum entry requirements: we will be very clear to whom this applies and we will use consistent, user-friendly language to describe the process.

‘We want to ensure all potential applicants from disadvantaged and non-traditional backgrounds understand that they are welcome, supported and belong at the heart of our universities.’

Greater ‘clarity and consistency’ will also be used in the terms and language universities use.

Professor Andrea Nolan, convener of umbrella body Universities Scotland, said: ‘There is a will and a shared commitment among principals to push beyond what we have already been doing to widen access, to work with the latest evidence and respond with new ways of doing things. I believe our actions hold the key elements that will make a real difference.’

But Professor Lindsay Paterson of Edinburgh University said there was no evidence contextualised admissions widened access.

He added: ‘The statement [from Universities Scotland] says only that minimum entry standards will be published. It doesn’t say that meeting these will guarantee entry. In courses in heavy demand, what is actually required to get in is much higher than the minimum. Nothing in the statement suggests this will change.’

He also said universities measured disadvantage using ‘wholly inadequate and wholly unscientific’ methods.

One senior education source cited the likely effect of Brexit to argue that an increasing number of students from less well-off backgrounds need not lead to middle-class students losing out.

When the UK leaves the EU, the number of European students – whose fees are paid by Scottish taxpayers – is expected to fall. Scotland could keep aside some places for Scots, creating more room for less wealthy students without displacing their better-off counterparts.

The Scottish Government said it ‘will continue to work with universities and students to discuss the impact of Brexit and how we can all ensure Scotland’s universities remain attractive, competitive and diverse’.

Higher education minister Shirley-Anne Somerville welcomed the latest moves but said she wanted even faster progress on widening access.

She added: ‘I will be particularly keen to discuss how we can pick up the pace of change.’

‘Taking a big step forward’