One in six candidates starting at the UK’s top two universities come from just 30 schools – of which just two are state grammars and one is a comprehensive. And the problem does not stop with Oxbridge. The report identified that a similar pattern could be found in admissions to other top UK universities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, Edinburgh, Imperial and University Colleges, London, the London School of Economics, Nottingham, St Andrews, Warwick and York.
Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of the Sutton Trust, whose aim is to provide educational opportunities for students from non-privileged backgrounds, said of the findings, “It is deeply worrying – not to mention a sad waste of talent – that the chances of reaching one of these highly selective universities are much greater for those who attend a small number of the country’s elite schools, mainly fee-paying.”
And on the surface these figures can be interpreted as an indictment against a class-ridden University application system, which favours middle-class students over those from poorer backgrounds. But a closer analysis of the situation reveals that numbers of applications to the top universities from state schools are falling. Could it be that the teaching profession is discouraging bright pupils from applying in the first place?
Oxbridge – the dreaming spires, punting and black tie balls and bicycles piled high outside of lecture halls… The images are those of another era, of braying upper classes, wealth and privilege. Many students from state comprehensives would be forgiven for preferring the idea of some of the UK’s other bastions of further education: such as Manchester, with its club culture, or Reading with its annual music festival. Without the support of their teachers to encourage them to aim for the top academic institutions, it is easy to see why applications are not forthcoming.
Then there is the applications procedure itself. While most universities will make a decision based on predicted grades at A Level alone when offering a place – Oxbridge demands a face-to-face interview. This is daunting enough for most candidates but less so for those who come from schools with a history of successfully submitting members of its student body. In these cases, a selection of students is routinely entered for Oxbridge every year and staff are familiar with the process.
So, are the top universities doing enough to break down these barriers that prevent state schools from entering their brightest students for consideration? An Oxford spokesman told the Guardian newspaper, “Whilst a small number of schools do send a large number of pupils to apply to our university, the reverse is also true; a large number of schools send a small number of pupils. This shows that we are successfully reaching people in schools where the straight-A student is a minority.”
Cambridge, meanwhile, has 56 per cent of its student intake from state schools and spends £3m a year on initiatives to widen participation. “Many of these… are yet to bear fruit. Others are aimed at raising aspirations generally and will not benefit Cambridge particularly,” the University claimed.
The Sutton Trust will spend £10m over the next five years to improve the aspirations of those applying for universities with ideas such as more summer schools for teenagers. Another idea mooted by the higher education minister Bill Rammell is a change to the current system of when students actually apply to university. At the moment this is done before the grades are known and decisions are made on predicted grades. It is plainly fairer for students to pitch their applications based on actual grades and allows the student greater confidence in aiming high in his or her choice of university.
Another slightly controversial proposal will come into effect from next year when students will be asked to indicate on their Ucas (university application form) whether their parents have a degree, with this information being passed on to admissions officers. Many are not sure about this initiative, which might be seen to favour those from backgrounds where there is no history of university attendance. A similar situation in the US designed to encourage greater numbers of ethnic minorities to pursue further education ended up being roundly criticised by both the middle classes who lost out on university places and those from ethnic minorities who resented the implication that they had not won their place on merit alone.
But there is also plenty that schools can do to ensure that their brightest pupils get a chance at the best universities. Clearly, it makes good business sense for private schools to boast to parents that they get a percentage of students into the top universities every year with several making it into Oxbridge. The pressure for state schools is often based on getting more students through exams with higher grades to ensure progress on the league tables. Therefore, a bright student might be encouraged to take those subjects most designed to offer a high return in terms of grade, for example media studies, than one that will be respected by one of the leading universities – such as history or a foreign language.
Bright students need to be identified when they are making their subject choices and encouraged to think that they can achieve their goals. But it appears that many teachers are concerned about raising expectations in students whose hopes may be dashed should they fail to win a place. A recent survey of teachers compiled by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that 80 per cent of teachers said, “Able students from disadvantaged areas would find it difficult to cope socially (at Oxbridge).”
Equally worrying were the report’s findings that teachers at state schools advising on university applications wrongly believed it cost more to attend Oxbridge and completely ignored information from these universities on bursaries.
Could it be that there is inverted snobbery against these top educational institutions coming from some sectors of the state school system, which is also at the root of diminishing numbers of student applications? Certainly there appears to be a reluctance to pick out those brightest members of the classroom for anything that could be classed as special treatment.
Last year, the Government asked schools to identify those among the student body who would most benefit from higher education but 20 per cent failed to do so. A census of nearly 3,400 secondary schools in England by the Department for Education and Skills also carried out last year showed that a fifth believed they had no gifted pupils at all. A third of secondary schools had failed to register any pupils with the special academy that helps with specialist tuition, online educational packages, residential courses and summer schools on university campuses.
Could it all come down to cost? After all, the government did introduce £3000 fees last year. But Mr. Rammell claims that figures show this has not deterred students from poor backgrounds from applying to university per se.
Instead it appears to be a case of perception: with students from the state sector, their parents and teachers believing that the top universities are not suitable or attainable. While nobody is saying that Britain’s many other universities do not provide a perfectly adequate form of higher education, it does seem a crying shame that some of the UK’s students are being denied the opportunity to attend world-class institutions such as Oxford or Cambridge University because of lack of accurate information. Isn’t it time to bury these outmoded class restrictions? They certainly have no place in the classroom.
