By Richard Johnstone | 17 June 2013
England’s top universities have become less socially representative over the past decade, an examination of admissions by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission has revealed today.
Higher education – the fair access challenge said almost 4,000 state-educated young people were missing out on places at the country’s best academic institutions.
The proportion of state-educated entrants attending the top 24 Russell Group universities was lower in 2011/12 than in 2002/03. The proportion of students from less advantaged social groups was also down over the decade.
Meanwhile, the intake at the leading institutions has become more socially advantaged than expected compared with the social backgrounds of those who have the grades to enter. It estimated that, as a result, there are around 3,700 ‘missing’ state-educated students at the top universities.
Commission chair Alan Milburn said the report showed elite universities must do more to tackle inequalities in access.
Too many of the most selective universities are not setting ambitious enough targets to close what he called the ‘fair access gap’, he added. Even if every Russell Group institution in England meets the targets they agreed with the Office for Fair Access by 2016/17, it would reduce the number of ‘missing’ state-educated students by only a quarter, he revealed.
The report follows up on Milburn’s examination of university access, which he conducted as the then independent reviewer on social mobility last year. He was subsequently appointed commission chair.
The report acknowledged that a ‘wide range’ of activities were now under way to help improve the social mix of institutions but said more could still be done to reach out to less advantaged students.
Universities should use ‘contextual data’ in the admissions process, including taking account of the ‘growing evidence base’ that students from less-advantaged backgrounds tend to out-perform peers with similar grades.
Milburn also called on the government to take ‘urgent action’ to improve the effectiveness of the National Scholarship Programme, which is intended to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds as they enter higher education.
‘It is clear that there is an increasing determination on the part of our universities to do their bit in creating a Britain that is more socially mobile,’ he said.
‘But we cannot be complacent – there is a long way to go to ensure that there is fair access to our best universities. They need to up their game.’
Responding to the report, the Russell Group said that it took the issue of social mobility and fair access seriously.
Director general Wendy Piatt said that universities were ‘battling to overcome the fair access challenge’.
She added: ‘But the many and varied factors which lead to the under-representation of students from disadvantaged background cannot be solved by universities alone. Ultimately, too few students from some state schools get the right grades in the right subjects and even those who do are less likely to apply to leading universities.
‘Of course, our universities have a role to play. As this report states, many of our universities already sponsor academies and maintain regional partnerships for outreach work with schools - amongst many other things. But this is an entrenched problem and there is no quick fix – it will take time to raise aspirations and attainment and improve advice and guidance offered to students in some schools.’
The Office for Fair Access agreed that progress at the most highly selective institutions had been flat over a number of years, and said this must change.
Offa director Les Ebdon said ensuring fair access to higher education was crucial both to promoting social mobility, and for the economy as a whole.
He added: ‘Achieving the targets institutions have set themselves will be significantly challenging, as they represent a step-change from current performance. I have made it clear that our focus has to be on supporting measurable and sustained outcomes, which is why we are developing a national strategy for access and student success with the Higher Education Funding Council for England.’
Universities UK said that widening participation in higher education would require ‘a genuine national effort’, with sustained support from schools, colleges and universities, as well as continued investment by government’.
‘We must continue to evaluate how effective different kinds of financial support have been in promoting participation,’ said chief executive Nicola Dandridge.
‘There must also be continued support for universities' work with schools and colleges to raise aspirations and attainment, as well as better advice and guidance in schools about higher education.’
The Sutton Trust said the report confirmed there had been no overall improvement in the representation of people from low- and middle-income backgrounds at top institutions.
Chair Sir Peter Lampl said ‘it is vital that these universities redouble their efforts to improve access by reaching out to able students in comprehensives and academies, and focusing more resources on such outreach’.
