School Gate: why working class kids need more help to get to university

Leading universities have failed to attract students from state schools and poor backgrounds despite billions being spent on increasing the social range of entrants. Latest figures indicate that the proportion of undergraduates from working-class backgrounds has fallen.

John Denham, the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, wrote last night to the Higher Education Funding Council for England to express his disappointment at the latest figures. Mr Denham ordered the council to investigate why some universities had particularly bad records and said that poor teaching could be to blame for higher drop-out rates.

The percentage of state-school pupils and those from the poorest areas attending Cambridge, Bristol and Durham fell this year, according to the figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. At Oxford there was a slight improvement on the previous year.

The figures also indicated that nearly a quarter of degree students (22.7 per cent) were expected to drop out before completing their degree course, compared with 22.6 per cent the previous year.

At 60 institutions more than one in ten students was expected to drop out. In some cases almost a third were not expected to finish their degree.

Mr Denham angered lecturers by stating that poor teaching may be to blame for the drop-out rates. He said: “No doubt there will be a number of factors to explain why certain institutions have particularly low retention rates. However, it seems likely that the quality of teaching and the student experience will be important components.”

The minister added that there were wide variations between institutions. “We need to explain why this is if we are to make further progress.”

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and Colleges Union, said: “I am outraged and astonished that the minister is trying to suggest that the reason for an increase in drop-outs is down to poor teaching. His comments are another kick in the teeth for lecturers.”

At Cambridge the percentage of students from state schools dropped from 57.6 per cent to 57 per cent, pushing its target figure of 75.8 per cent further out of reach.

The latest figures, covering the academic year 2006-07, show that the national proportion of university students that were state-educated rose from 87.8 per cent to 88 per cent — the smallest increase in four years. The proportion of students from working-class backgrounds fell from 29.8 per cent to 29.5 per cent, but at Bristol and Cambridge the decline was steeper.

Universities have spent £3 billion on outreach schemes to attract more students from poor backgrounds in to university.

Wendy Piatt, the director-general of the Russell Group of researchintensive universities, said that the main cause of the problem was that state-school students with the right grades were not applying. “We cannot offer places to students who do not apply,” she said.

Professor Rick Trainor, president of Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said: “All the UK’s universities — through an enormous range of initiatives — are committed to widening access from underrepresented groups, but there still remains work to be done.”

Lee Elliot Major, director of research at the Sutton Trust education charity, said: “Leading research universities are becoming the preserve of the social elite, while other universities are the choice for students from more disadvantaged backgrounds.”

David Willetts, the Shadow Universities Secretary, said: “The Government talks about broadening access to university but these latest figures show we are going backwards. The Government has completely failed to tackle these deep-seated problems — which require real education reform.”

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