Elite universities across the world are on the constant lookout for new ways of identifying academic talent — particularly if that academic potential has been undernourished because of disadvantage.

In Paris, the prestigious Institut des Sciences Politiques has developed an alternative test for pupils from deprived schools, using interviews and school records rather than the standard Baccalauréat. In Dublin, Trinity College reserves nearly a quarter of its intake for students who have faced some form of disadvantage. In Texas, the top 10 per cent of pupils in all schools are guaranteed entry to the state university.

In Britain, a group of 13 highly selective universities is developing a common “compact” scheme crediting non-privileged students who can demonstrate commitment and potential on access courses.

What evidence is available suggests that students on these alternative schemes do as well academically as other students when at university. But perhaps even more importantly, they are found to prosper in life after graduation. Such programmes can be seen as long-term investments in social mobility with high returns for society as a whole.

In Britain there is a particular local disconnect between elite universities and the deprived schools on their doorstep: 80 per cent of disadvantaged pupils live within 40 minutes of a research university, yet only one in 25 will enrol there.

The Sutton Trust’s proposed per cent scheme aims to bridge this divide and grab those pupils before they are lost. The power of the scheme is its simplicity: able pupils in disadvantaged schools will be offered a clear pathway to that elite university place. The deal could not be more straightforward: knuckle down, attend the university and school support sessions provided, get the minimum A-level grades and your life will be transformed.

Dr Lee Elliot Major is director of research at The Sutton Trust

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