UK: Slow progress to widening participation

Some elite English universities are still failing to attract students from poor backgrounds despite £392 million (US$540 million) from the government and the funding council over the past five years to help widen participation among students with no tradition of higher education, says a new report from a Parliamentary committee. MPs singled out the Russell Group of 16 major research-intensive institutions, including Oxbridge, London and Warwick, as the main culprits.

The report provoked defensive reactions from the Russell Group and the government. Dr Wendy Piatt, the group's General Director, said her members were doing everything they could to ensure that talented students from every background had the chance to benefit from a degree.

"We are helping to raise academic attainment and aspirations by working closely with local schools, colleges and community groups, organising summer schools and providing access courses, and by dramatically increasing the amount of money committed to outreach and widening participation," Piatt said. "But ultimately, we cannot admit students who do not apply. As the committee points out, the main obstacle to widening participation in our universities is educational under-achievement."

If students from a lower social group succeed in overcoming the barriers they faced and achieved good grades at A Level (or the equivalent), then they were highly likely to go to university. But many students from low-income backgrounds did not have the grades, the aspirations or the encouragement to apply to university, she said.

A spokesman for the higher education department said ministers disagreed with the report's findings as it did not give adequate recognition to work universities were doing to increase links with schools and it understated the progress made in closing the gap between richer and poorer groups.

The committee's report did acknowledge the narrowing gap: the participation of young full-time students from lower socio-economic backgrounds had improved slightly, by two percentage points over the last four years, it said. Although this group makes up around a half of the population of England, it still represents only 29% of young full-time first entrants to higher education.

More than twice the proportion of students from wealthier families go on to higher education than those from poorer backgrounds. Particular groups remain under-represented, especially white males from poorer backgrounds and young people living in deprived areas. If students obtained good grades at the General Certificate of Education, they were more likely to take A-levels and go on to higher education.

MPs noted that the higher education department and the funding council knew too little about how universities used the special funds to widen participation. They said the guidance the two groups provided on how students could progress to higher education was of variable quality, and schools should establish regular contact with at least one university.

Their report also said that in 2006-07, 12,000 students did not apply for a bursary even though many of them were likely to have met the criteria.

Organisations representing the rest of England's higher education sector, GuildHE and million+, gave a warmer welcome to the report. Alice Hynes, Chief Executive of GuildHE said: "This report underlines the crucial role played by teaching-led institutions in reaching out to sections of the population that continue to be under-represented in higher education generally.

"The most recent performance indicators show that many of the newest universities, university colleges and specialist institutions represented by GuildHE are among the best in the country for widening participation. They are also improving at a faster rate than any other type of institution."

Pam Tatlow, Chief Executive of the university think-tank million+ said: "The recognition by the public accounts committee that newer universities have been the main drivers of increasing participation is very welcome. million+ certainly endorses the committee's recommendation that other institutions could learn from the experience and best practice developed in post-19 92 universities in order to improve the UK's performance in higher education participation.

"It is a pity the committee has not followed through the logic of its own conclusion and actually recommended a national bursary system. As the report rightly says, this would be simpler and fairer. It would have obvious benefit for students who currently face a postcode lottery and those universities which excel in widening participation."

diane.spencer@uw-news.com