The report by the government's social mobility commission warns that the proportion of state-educated pupils attending Russell Group universities has declined since 2002. It suggests that the nation's most academically selective universities are becoming less socially representative, and have "a long way to go" to ensure that all potential students have a chance of gaining a place.
It wants universities to make more use of "contextual data" about student backgrounds in their admissions decisions, and says "universities should consider incentivising less advantaged school pupils to engage" by offering guaranteed interviews and, where appropriate, lower entry requirements.
The report also argues that universities need to take account of "the growing evidence base that students from less advantaged backgrounds tend to outperform other students with similar A-level grades on their degree".
The commission estimates that 3,700 state-educated students miss out annually on a place at universities belonging to the Russell Group, the club of research-intensive universities that includes Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the London School of Economics and Imperial College. Of those who got in, both the proportion of entrants who were state-educated and the proportion from less advantaged social groups were lower in 2012 than in 2002.
The result is that 126 fewer students from the most socially disadvantaged backgrounds went to Russell Group universities in 2011-12 than in 2002-03.
Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK lobbying group, said the universities agreed with many of the report's recommendations, and backed the use of contextual data.
"Universities UK endorses fully the support given to the use of contextual data by universities. This is part of a much wider process in which the university considers a range of factors alongside an applicant's grades," Dandridge said.
Alan Milburn, chair of the commission, said too many universities were not setting ambitious targets to widen access in their agreements with the Office for Fair Access (Offa). "Their performance is unacceptable and must change," Milburn said. Professor Les Ebdon, head of Offa, agreed: "Progress to our most highly selective institutions has been flat over a number of years and this must change."
The latest access agreements drawn up between Offa and the universities would be "significantly challenging", Ebdon said.
Although the total estimated number of state school pupils entering Russell Group universities increased by 1,464 between 2002 and 2011, a rise of 2.6%, almost half the new places created over the past decade have gone to the privately educated: the number of privately educated students entering these institutions increased by 1,426, up 7.9%.
Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: "We need a system-wide drive on access to top universities if we are to make greater inroads into the problem. Enabling able students to fulfil their potential goes right to the heart of social mobility, basic fairness and economic efficiency."
Milburn published a report into university access six months ago, which including a range of recommendations, and this update summa rises how the fiercely independent universities have responded to the recommendations. It also sets out university by university within the Russell Group how many state pupils are missing, and the decline or increase in state pupils in the past decade.
Original Article
Source: guardian.co.uk
Author: Patrick Wintour and Richard Adams
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