Top universities to give more places to disadvantaged

Top universities in England have been told to significantly increase places for disadvantaged youngsters, but private schools’ leaders said universities should not ‘discriminate’ against their pupils, writes Sean Coughlan for BBC News.

University watchdog, the Office for Students, wants the “access gap” between wealthier and poorer students to be halved in five years. Young people from affluent areas are six times more likely to get places at the most selective universities. “It is damning for the sector that large gaps still remain,” said Universities Minister Chris Skidmore. “We cannot let this talent be wasted.”

Mike Buchanan, executive director of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference group of independent schools, said young people should not be discriminated against because of the “class they were born into”. He said universities should be expanded to “take as many truly suitable students as necessary, rather than rob some students of a future to award it to others”.
Full report on the BBC site