Deprived students face ‘triple whammy’ in pandemic
T h e c o r o n av i r u s p a n d e mic has “exposed and exacerbated” inequalities of access t o h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n a c r o s s Scotland, with an “explosion” in demand for mental health support, according to a damning new report by one of Britain’s most respected educationalists.
In what he describ ed as a “triple whammy” for students from deprived communities, Professor Sir Peter Scott, Scotland’s fair access commissioner, found that young learners from socially deprived homes found it more difficult to engage with online learning, adding that institutions with the highest proportions of students from disadvantaged areas also had the “most limited resources”.
He warned it will take “several years” to try to recover from the crisis, and said consideration should be given to ensuring the emergency measures implemented by colleges and universities become a permanent fixture,” given how the pandemic has highlighted deep-rooted “disadvantage” and “discrimination”.
His analysis of the pandemic’s impact on the higher education sector pointed out that due to the cancellation of National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher exams in the summer, it was likely that the majority of additional funded university places were filled by applicants from more privileged social groups.
H e s a i d t h a t c o n t i n u i n g uncertainty over school examinations, coupled with uneven attendance patterns, could see efforts to close the attainment gap stall, “or even go into reverse,” stressing: “The implications for fair access to higher education are both stark and obvious.”
He also noted “greater nervousness” about meeting targets for universit y entrants from the most deprived areas of the country. Such applicants accounted for 11 per cent of new entrants at the University of St Andrews in 2019/20, for example, and the figure is expected to fall this year to 9.5 per cent.
Sir Peter, emeritus professor of higher education at University College London, wrote: “Covid-19 has laid bare the massive, and morally unacceptable, inequalities that exist in society and economy and disfigure our democracy. They are now in plain view. They cannot be denied. There is no longer any room for scepticism about the urgent need for fair access. Nor can these inequalities be min
imised, and attributed to gaps in attainment or deficits in aspiration. Effects can no longer be confused with causes.”
He called on individual universities and colleges to utilise indicators of disadvantage to identify those “newly impoverished” as a result of Covid-19, and set their own targets accordingly.
H e a l s o s a i d u n i ve r s i t i e s
should look at whether their minimum entry requirements need to be “further adjusted,” given the shift from examinations to teacher-assessed grades, and the widespread interruptions to school attendance.
Other recommendations set out in his interim report include the implementation of a Cov
id-19 recovery fund by the Scottish Government, in association with the Scottish Funding Council and other institutions, which is focused on addressing “digital p over t y,” financial hardship, and poor mental health among the student population.