By Lucy Phillips
1 February 2010
Access to elite universities has not widened in the past ten years despite a raft of government initiatives, according to the Sutton Trust.
The education charity said the proportion of non-privileged students at the UK’s top universities remains ‘depressively low’. The body was submitting evidence for a review by Sir Martin Harris, director of the Office for Fair Access, into widening access to Oxbridge and other Russell Group universities.
The Trust found that almost 30% of Oxbridge undergraduates in 2007 and 2008 were from an elite of 100 schools and colleges, the majority of which were fee-paying or state grammars. Westminster School produced the most Oxbridge graduates – 154 – over the two years, and Eton College, which was attended by Princes William and Harry, the next most at 152.
According to government estimates, only 20% of those starting university courses at Russell Group institutions in 2002/03 were from the UK’s four lower social class groups, which account for 50% of the population. The figures were largely unchanged in 2007/08, despite efforts by the government, universities and schools.
Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, said the evidence showed ‘the extent of the challenge we are facing to ensure that background, location or financial situation are not barriers to entering these universities for academically able young people’.
He added: ‘Access to highly selective universities matters because it is graduates of these institutions that go on to our most influential professions.’
Last week the Higher Education Funding Council for England published a study showing that the number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering all areas of higher education, not only the most selective, rose by 30% over the past five years.
But commentators are worried about the impact of millions of pound in cuts in higher education funding on fair access to universities. Later today, Hefce is due to set out its spending plans for the next academic year.
The Sutton Trust said more places on access schemes for those from disadvantaged backgrounds should be created at highly selective universities, despite the current financial climate.
1 February 2010
Access to elite universities has not widened in the past ten years despite a raft of government initiatives, according to the Sutton Trust.
The education charity said the proportion of non-privileged students at the UK’s top universities remains ‘depressively low’. The body was submitting evidence for a review by Sir Martin Harris, director of the Office for Fair Access, into widening access to Oxbridge and other Russell Group universities.
The Trust found that almost 30% of Oxbridge undergraduates in 2007 and 2008 were from an elite of 100 schools and colleges, the majority of which were fee-paying or state grammars. Westminster School produced the most Oxbridge graduates – 154 – over the two years, and Eton College, which was attended by Princes William and Harry, the next most at 152.
According to government estimates, only 20% of those starting university courses at Russell Group institutions in 2002/03 were from the UK’s four lower social class groups, which account for 50% of the population. The figures were largely unchanged in 2007/08, despite efforts by the government, universities and schools.
Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, said the evidence showed ‘the extent of the challenge we are facing to ensure that background, location or financial situation are not barriers to entering these universities for academically able young people’.
He added: ‘Access to highly selective universities matters because it is graduates of these institutions that go on to our most influential professions.’
Last week the Higher Education Funding Council for England published a study showing that the number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering all areas of higher education, not only the most selective, rose by 30% over the past five years.
But commentators are worried about the impact of millions of pound in cuts in higher education funding on fair access to universities. Later today, Hefce is due to set out its spending plans for the next academic year.
The Sutton Trust said more places on access schemes for those from disadvantaged backgrounds should be created at highly selective universities, despite the current financial climate.
