31 October 2008
By Julie Read
Inadequate careers advice and entrenched social divisions are stopping bright children from poor backgrounds from going to university, an education charity said this week.
The Sutton Trust said large numbers of academically able students were being diverted into a 'cul-de-sac of opportunity' because the current higher education advice and guidance does not target them.
The trust's October 28 report found that just 10% of people from the poorest fifth of families acquired a degree by the age of 23, compared with 44% of those from the wealthiest fifth.
There are also stark inequalities facing pupils at secondary level. The majority of pupils on free school meals who perform well at age 11 do not sustain this progress through to GCSE level.
Poor careers advice at key stages was identified as a critical problem. The Sutton Trust, which works to improve social mobility, called for every secondary school to have a lead teacher responsible for higher education information, advice and guidance at every key stage.
Researchers also found an endemic lack of awareness of the financial support available and the financial benefits of higher education, particularly among less privileged students.
James Turner, the trust's director of policy, said: 'The absence of high quality advice and support has a particularly negative effect on young people from non-privileged backgrounds, who do not have access to networks of graduates and professionals to make up for deficiencies in the system.
'All young people deserve realistic and informed advice about where certain educational pathways lead and this needs to start early on – at least at age 14 – so they don't find themselves down a cul-de-sac of opportunity, wondering what could have been.'
Professor Rick Trainor, president of Universities UK, said that although universities made strenuous efforts to seek out potential, 'they cannot admit people who are not applying to university'.
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