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15th May 2001 Inclusion cash goes to least inclusive
17th September 2002 A-Level Results Row- Farce or Fix?By Joe Rukin
After it seemed like the whole A-level downgrading scandal had been designed to specially mark down the fee-paying Independent schools sector, by hitting 'their' exam board hardest, it seems those schools are saying it was not necessary as their students have been discriminated against in getting to university, as top institutions will get more money for taking less well off students, and have taken that option.
In a glee-filled indulgence of 'I told you so', over a year ago, educationet pointed out that the
"Least inclusive, richest, universities in the UK are going to be given £6m extra per year to recruit students from poorer backgrounds. Despite the fact that underfunded universities expected to be rewarded for their hard work in promoting access, the bulk of the money will go to the cash-rich Ivy League. But only if they hit targets for participation - But only!?- What? After they've been told how much extra cash they'll get??"
Well now, like the certainty of a fresher getting a leaflet, private schools claim their students are being discriminated against as with the same or better grades than state school counterparts (remembering A-level re-grading which will effect fee-paying schools the most has not happened yet), they were increasingly overlooked at Bristol, Edinburgh, Durham, Manchester, LSE, Nottingham and University College London Universities, whilst at the same time entry grade requirements were reduced. LSE are accused of being the biggest culprit, with 75% of HMC pupils rejected, but why would the home of British economical thinking take the option which gets less cash? The HMC (Headmasters' and Headmistresses Conference), the umbrella group representing top public schools cottoned on to the idea that;
"Universities might be motivated by cash premiums to help meet government targets for admitting more pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds."
Edward Gould the chairman of HMC, told delegates their annual conference;
"It is the apparent strategy of some institutions in certain subjects [to combine lower than normal offers with high rejection rates for their students] that gives cause for anxiety. In promoting a policy of social inclusion, universities are being encouraged to identify talented students from non-traditional and low income backgrounds; in itself this is admirable."
"But if fund-starved universities are to be offered increased funding to meet certain benchmarks of student by provenance of secondary schooling, a benchmark quickly becomes a quota and potentially discriminatory. Rather than crudely tamper with university admissions' procedures to promote inclusion by the backdoor, the question that needs addressing is why the secondary education system does not generate more students with talent from disadvantaged backgrounds with the aspirations and necessary qualifications to attend selecting universities."
The odd thing- there's always and 'odd' (or hypocritical thing) is that one of the accused, Bristol University was praised by Margaret Hodge, the higher education minister earlier in the year for the way it positively discriminates. Their history admissions policy was praised by Hodge as the department takes state pupils who had done better than any past candidate from their school at the expense of others who had higher A-level grades. But in a strange denial a spokesman for the university said;
"There's no question of our discriminating against pupils from independent schools. We are simply looking beyond traditional admissions criteria and adopting a more sophisticated approach to identifying academic potential."
In a statement which does nothing but fill space, Hodge said; "I look forward to receiving the HMC research as we want to widen participation fairly. Universities are in the business of hunting out the brightest students who will flourish on their courses. They are exploring much more effective mechanisms of ensuring our brightest children get the best chances and we should applaud not denigrate that."
So what is the 'I told you so' for this time? Well admission chaos next year and a court case about the A-level results is there for anyone to see, but how about these institutions -which are massively expensive to attend- finally finding out what dropout rates -due to financial problems- can be like?
Related Articles
Guardian, University admission 'favours the poor'
Times, University offers 'favour poor'
Independent, Private schools accuse seven universities of discrimination
BBC, Private schools claim university bias
