University access

Recent reports in the media (March 2005) have suggested that universities are to reduce the number of places available to pupils from independent schools. Many of these stories present a very distorted view of what the universities have said or are planning to do and seriously misrepresent the position. All universities, and in particular leading universities, depend for their future on attracting the best students. They have no motivation - whether academic or financial - to distort admissions policy. The Director of Fair Access at OFFA (the Office for Fair Access), Sir Martin Harris, has made it clear that the sector in which children are educated is irrelevant: the aim is to widen the pool of suitably qualified applicants - an aim which independent schools in general endorse.

Some facts:

1. The number of leavers from independent schools going to higher education is rising. The 2004 ISC (Independent Schools Council) Census showed 92.4% of post A-level leavers going on to Higher Education, up from 89% in 1997. The majority of these students go on to courses they wish to follow at universities they wish to attend.

2. Regular research by independent schools suggests that there continues to be very little evidence of anti-independent school discrimination in the admissions practices of the most popular and sought-after universities. There have been occasional, isolated instances of well-qualified applicants being turned down for places, but this does not seem to be systematic.

3. The London School of Economics (following recent news coverage about a pilot scheme to reserve 40 places for students who do especially well at schools where performance levels are generally very poor) has said, in writing, that "most of those displaced are from other state schools, not from the independent sector", and "there is no bias against the independent sector".

4. Recent figures from HEFCE show that, although the proportion of admissions to universities from maintained schools has increased, there has been no decline in admissions from independent schools. The figures are summarised below:

[Figures rounded to nearest 100.]

5. Assurances have been given by Ministers, the chief executive of HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) and the Director of Fair Access, Sir Martin Harris, that universities remain firmly in control of admissions, and will not be penalised financially for failing to admit specified numbers of state school pupils.

In a letter to ISC, higher education minister Kim Howells MP said: "The new HEFCE benchmarks will not be taken into account in making an access agreement with a university or in deciding whether a university has kept its access agreement". In the same letter, he said "Government does not force any university to meet [the HEFCE benchmarks] and does not have any other form of access quota or target."

Sir Martin has said that he will take "no cognisance at all" of the new HEFCE benchmarks, which have been widely criticised. The role of OFFA (the Office for Fair Access) is to widen the pool of suitably qualified applicants, and to make financial support available for poorer students. Suitably qualified applications are very different from unsuitably qualified admissions, as Sir Martin has made clear.

6. The recent Government-sponsored review of university admissions by Professor Schwartz emphasised the cardinal principle that applicants should be treated as individuals, not as representatives of a particular sector. ISC endorses that view, as does the Government.

It is worth noting that the number of well-qualified university applicants from all sectors has increased hugely: as an example, this year one leading university had 2,500 applications for 136 places to read History; of these, 2,100 were predicted three A grades at A-level. In order to be considered for a place, applicants therefore needed at least six A* grades at GCSE as well as three A grades at A-level. This demonstrates very vividly the importance of pupils securing the best grades that they can at every stage of their school careers.

DST

April 2005