Young should know there is nothing wrong with not going to university
I WAS interested to read your article on a perceived lack of uniformity in enacting access policy to our higher education institutions (“Pressure on universities to widen access”, The Herald, May 31). It states “Higher Education Minister Shirley-Anne Somerville said the ‘disparity’ that exists between different institutions ‘must change’”.
Having read the Scottish Government’s “Blueprint for Fairness” and also the more recent report on implementing it, the key issue I consider in this whole debate is that the problem is being defined in reference to a deficit model at school leaver level, yet the solution being promoted is a systemic one at university level.
I suggest that constantly elevating university as the ultimate honey pot does hidden damage to the very many young people in Scotland who, for varying reasons, do not go to university. The latest Government figures indicate for example that in Clackmannanshire only 25 per cent of senior stage school leavers go on to higher education compared with the national average of 40 per cent.
Your same article also indicates that Scotland, in this context, has a new Commissioner for Fair Access. Perhaps we also need a Commissioner for Fair Judgement. We should be extolling the successes of the majority of young people in places like Clackmannanshire and indeed across the whole country who leave school and make meaningful and creative contributions to our economy and society. There is nothing wrong with not going to university, as the form of education they offer is inappropriate for many needs and interests and was never intended or designed for the majority of the population.
The “disparity” which our Higher Education Minister refers to is interuniversity and relatively minor. However, addressing the endemic lack in parity of esteem across all education sectors in Scotland is the real challenge.
Bill Brown,
46 Breadie Drive, Milngavie.
THAT students from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely than their socially and financially advantaged contemporaries to access any of our universities has been acknowledged for years but the news that the Scottish Government now believes that there is disparity between the “ancient universities” and their younger counterparts and which must be addressed is welcome. The reasons for interuniversity differences are various but what should be remembered is that some elite courses such as medicine are confined to those “ancient” ones, along with Dundee.
The universities and medical schools under this focus are actively trying to address this issue and current students in groups such as You Can Be A Doctor have even taken up the endeavour to assist students from our state schools to overcome the significant hurdles they face when compared with those from the private school sector. In mentoring students from my old school in Fife who are determined to study medicine I have become convinced that even a “full house” of five excellent Highers is no guarantee that such pupils will get further consideration.
Each medical school appears to impose slightly different rules for admission: some interview while some do not; each has its own cut-off for the aptitude test all would-be medical students must take; and I suspect each has a different view on what standard of school qualifications it expects as a minimum for further consideration.
Students have to cope with this variation across the universities on top of their difficulty obtaining experience, guidance and advice on those processes. And they need to develop self-confidence. However, what I have found is that students ambitious to be doctors are often very determined and it amazes me how many beat the imperfect system.
Dr Alan Rodger, Clairmont Gardens, Kelvingrove, Glasgow.