Williamson to overhaul ‘unfair’ university admissions system
GAVIN WILLIAMSON has announced an overhaul of university admissions as he says the current system “breeds low aspiration and unfairness”.
The Daily Telegraph revealed this week that the new system could see students offered places after A-level results day, meaning universities would no longer have to rely on predicted grades.
Ministers believe that moving to a “post-qualification” admissions system would benefit youngsters from poor backgrounds who are more likely to be under-predicted. It would also remove the need for unconditional offers which are thought to skew students’ choices.
“We have an admissions system that was designed in the Sixties when the number of people going to university was in the low single figures, compared to the 50 per cent of youngsters going to university today,” Mr Williamson told The Telegraph.
“I don’t believe the current admission system works for students and it certainly doesn’t work for those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Over the last 10 years, we have started to see the emergence of sharp practice – trying to bribe students with laptops and cashback offers in order to choose certain universities.”
Department for Education officials believe bright students from deprived backgrounds are at a disadvantage compared with wealthier peers under the current system as they are more likely to have their grades under-predicted.
The Government cited Ucas data from last year which showed that 79 per cent of school-leavers had their A-levels over-predicted while just 8 per cent had theirs under-predicted.
The announcement comes after vicechancellors and Ucas, the university admissions service, signalled that they would be prepared to back fundamental changes to the admissions system.
Head teachers also welcomed the reforms, saying the proposal would be a “better and fairer” system for students.
The Government will launch a consultation in the “coming months”, but said that any changes would not affect university applications for 2021.