DfES - The Future of Higher Education

Education must be a force for opportunity and social justice, not for the entrenchment of privilege. We must make certain that the opportunities that higher education brings are available to all those who have the potential to benefit from them, regardless of their background. This is not just about preventing active discrimination; it is about working actively to make sure that potential is recognised and fostered wherever it is found.

. Raising participation and standards through our reforms of secondary and further education is critical to widening access.

. But we must also raise the aspirations of schools and young people. A unified national AimHigher programme will build better links between schools, colleges and universities, including through summer schools and a pilot programme offering students the chance to support teachers in schools and colleges.

. We will ensure that there are good-quality and accessible 'second-chance' routes into higher education for those who missed out when they were younger.

. And we will work with universities to make sure that admissions procedures are professional, fair and transparent, and use the widest possible range of information about students when making decisions.

. Institutions will be provided with better benchmark data on which to judge progress in widening access and we will continue to support the work being done to secure fair access to the most prestigious universities.

. We will ask HEFCE to reform the access premium so that universities and colleges will be properly funded for the extra costs of attracting and retaining students from non-traditional backgrounds.

. Universities with unacceptably high drop-out rates will be asked to plan improvements.

. We will appoint a Higher Education Access Regulator, who will develop a framework for Access Agreements for each institution. Only institutions making satisfactory progress on access will be able to participate in the Graduate Contribution Scheme from 2006.

. We will reintroduce grants for students from the lowest income families, to help overcome their financial worries and to underpin a raising of aspirations. Proposals for this are set out in Chapter 7.

6.1 The Government's commitment to fair access will not waver. All those who have the potential to benefit from higher education should have the opportunity to do so. This is a fundamental principle which lies at the heart of building a more socially just society, because education is the best and most reliable route out of poverty and disadvantage.

6.2 There is no simple means of achieving wider access. Success in opening up higher education to all who have the potential to benefit from it depends on building aspirations and attainment throughout all stages of education. Higher education institutions need to be supported in their efforts to reach out to students from non-traditional backgrounds, and provide them with the right pastoral and teaching support; young people and their families need to be encouraged to raise their aspirations and achieve more of their potential in examinations prior to entry to higher education; and finally, there must be an effective and fair system of student support that takes into account the different circumstances of an increasingly varied student population. Student support is discussed more fully in Chapter 7.

6.3 The single most important cause of the social class division in higher education participation is differential attainment in schools and colleges. While around 43 per cent
of 18 year olds from higher socio-economic backgrounds gain two or more A-levels, only
19 per cent of those from lower socio-economic backgrounds do so. Given that 9 out of 10 people with 2 or more A-levels go on to higher education by the time they are 21, this shows why our reforms to raise standards across the piece in education, beginning in early childhood and going on through schools and colleges, are so important to our higher education agenda. It is worth noting that students from lower socio-economic groups who do achieve good
A-levels are as likely to go on to university as young people from better-off backgrounds.

6.4 Standards have risen dramatically in primary schools and a substantial reform programme is now taking place in secondary education. Last year saw England's best ever GCSE and A-level results. The Government's 14-19 strategy, published on January 21, will promote higher aspirations and levels of attainment by age 19. The 'Success for All' programme for further education, which focuses on raising standards of teaching and learning, will also make a vital contribution - over 40 per cent of higher education entrants come through colleges.

6.5 Raising school standards is critical, but it will not be enough on its own. More young people must be motivated to stay on in learning after age 16 and more of those who achieve the requisite qualifications at age 18 or 19 must be encouraged to consider going on to higher education. The roll out of Education Maintenance Allowances (see Box K) across the country will encourage more young people from less well off families to stay on in learning. It is especially important that those who come from families without a tradition of going to higher education, and whose aspirations are low, are supported both in achieving their full potential before university, and in aspiring to go on to further study.

Box K: Education Maintenance Allowances

Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) are a 'something for something' measure. Eligible young people aged 16-19 (or their parents in a few areas) can receive an allowance of up to £30 a week (£40 a week in Oldham and Nottingham) if they stay on at school or college, and sign a learning agreement which sets out details of their course, attendance, and homework requirements. EMAs are currently being piloted in 56 Local Education Authority areas across England, and findings from the original 15 pilots show a gain in participation for young people of around 5.9 percentage points. On 15 July 2002, the Chancellor announced that the EMA pilot scheme would be extended across England from 2004, with EMAs worth up to £1,500 a year for those who stay on and study.

6.6 There are still significant barriers of aspiration facing young people from non-traditional backgrounds, as well as disabled students and those from some ethnic minority groups.
59 per cent of a sample of 16-30 year olds from social classes C1, C2, D and E did not plan ever
to go to university, and almost half of the sample had never thought about doing a degree.
45 per cent of the sample agreed that 'the student image is not for me'. And aspirations are often set at an early age - one study found that the decision to participate in higher education was made by the age of 14 by the majority of pupils, and some made the decision even earlier.38

6.7 Early experience of the Excellence Challenge programme has suggested that it is important for universities working closely with schools and colleges in disadvantaged areas to provide good information and the chance to visit and experience a 'taster' of university, to help raise aspirations. So from 2003-04 the level of support provided by the Excellence Challenge programme will be increased, and its coverage widened. We will bring the programme together with the Partnerships for Progression initiative to deliver a coherent national outreach programme to be called "AimHigher", operating most intensively in the most disadvantaged areas. Box L gives an example of the kind of work supported by Excellence Challenge.

Box L: University of Liverpool

Using funds from the Excellence Challenge and elsewhere, the University of Liverpool is working closely with schools and colleges in Merseyside to widen access. Masterclasses and residential courses have provided opportunities for about 4,000 young people to improve their attainment and get a taste of university life. In particular, the "Talent Support" programme has paired student mentors with young people with no family history of higher education who work together after school and at week-ends to dispel myths and stereotypes. As a result of all these activities, Liverpool's record on admitting students from disadvantaged backgrounds is one of the best of the Russell Group of universities.

6.8 As part of AimHigher, we will also provide funding for a pilot initiative to encourage students to undertake paid, part-time support roles in schools or colleges, building on existing work such as the 'Teacher Associate' scheme run by the TTA. Many young people lack role models who can give them a clear, first-hand view about what university life is like, and what the benefits of going to university are. Students will be able to share their experiences with the young people they work with, and in return will get paid for valuable work experience.

6.9 London has a large number of higher education institutions, and is uniquely well placed to offer opportunities for young people in its schools and colleges to understand and experience what higher education can offer. We are keen to test some innovative approaches to partnerships through workshops, mentoring, taster courses, and in some schools, close involvement with higher education staff in schools with low progression to higher education so that parents and pupils come to see higher education as a natural choice.

6.10 Another AimHigher Roadshow 39 is underway this year and will be repeated. This year it will reach 54,000 year 9 pupils and over 15,000 students in FE and sixth form colleges. The potential impact of this campaign is already becoming clear - when asked whether they were interested in, or definitely going to university, 75 per cent of attendees said 'yes' after a roadshow compared to 52 per cent beforehand.

6.11 Effective support mechanisms within institutions are essential to attracting and retaining vulnerable students, offering pastoral, academic and financial advice services. Many institutions have already recognised that this can be done very effectively through one stop shops, or other integrated facilities, such as the new Student Services Centre at the University of Manchester and the innovative HE 'shop in the High Street' run by the University of Wolverhampton. The Department has been encouraging all institutions to improve these services, and plans to publish in the Spring, a digest of examples of good practice by student services. It has provided earmarked funding to support and promote student finance advice.

6.12 The Department has also commissioned a study to examine the experiences of ethnic minority students, which will identify and assess the factors which affect participation, student achievement and transition into the labour market. This will report in 2004.

6.13 Of course, not all higher education entrants come straight from school or college - over half of those currently in higher education are over 25, and meeting their needs will continue to be an important function of the system in Britain and elsewhere, especially given the pressures generated by the knowledge economy and the prospect of lengthening working lives.40 Access to higher education courses have provided a valuable entry route into higher education for many students, particularly those mature learners who missed out at 18. However, numbers have not increased significantly over the past few years. We will ask the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education to come forward with proposals to modernise the criteria for Access Courses so that they are sufficiently flexible and attractive to meet the needs of today's adult learners.

6.14 A key role in supporting participation among under-represented groups is played by further and higher education colleges, and by the seven long-term residential colleges (see Box M). We will develop and encourage this form of provision which continues to offer major opportunities.

Box M: Ruskin College and the long term residential colleges

The role of long-term residential colleges was first shaped more than a century ago by Ruskin College, which developed provision for trade unionists and working class people to prepare for higher education. More recently the colleges have offered higher education provision in direct partnership with higher education institutions. Since the 1980s, this work has been paralleled for adults who cannot take up residential provision by Access course provision in further education colleges and specialist adult education provision across the country.

6.15 If we succeed in raising aspirations among non-traditional students, many more of them will apply. So it will be critical that institutions are supported in ensuring that these new applicants are treated fairly, while being tested appropriately for their potential for higher education. The new Access Regulator described later in this chapter will have a key role in overseeing fair entrance to higher education, but it is not for the government to prescribe admissions systems, for which universities themselves are responsible. We look to them to ensure that their admissions criteria are as easily understood as possible, and that admissions staff, both academic and administrative, are properly trained so that they can recognise genuine potential as well as achievement, and make fair decisions. The admissions process should also be a serious one for the student - requiring commitment from them, and real investment in the decision to enter higher education.

6.16 In addition, the Specialist Educational Needs and Disability Act, 2001 came into force from September 2002. It is now unlawful for the first time for institutions to discriminate against disabled students in how they admit students and in the services they provide for them.

6.17 UUK published a report earlier this month ("Fair Enough") which explores how universities can best ensure that they choose the most talented applicants, using a wide range of information and looking beyond raw qualifications. It looks at the way in which different institutions, well-aware that this is a critical but challenging issue, are taking a range of different steps to ensure that their admissions processes are fair.

6.18 Work is underway by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority as part of its e-VIVA programme, due to be completed in July 2003, to pilot electronic records - 'e-portfolios' - which would offer university admissions offices a comprehensive picture of the abilities and experience of school leavers. The University of Bristol has developed a scheme which takes account of the results achieved by an applicant's school or college in making offers. Other top universities also apply flexible systems to identify those best able to take advantage of their courses. In the US, a number of leading universities operate schemes in which a proportion of their students, who might not otherwise qualify for admission, are admitted on the basis that they are in the top few per cent in their class. In Texas, there is evidence that such students catch up with those with higher entry scores by the time they graduate. In Leeds (see Box N below), the university offers additional support - financial, academic and pastoral - to students from non-traditional backgrounds, from before they apply to the university. In Durham, particular effort has been invested in converting applications into acceptances. And in Oxford and Cambridge, the difficulties inherent in running a collegiate admissions system in a sufficiently robust, rigorous and professional way to ensure that it is fair have been recognised. We welcome reforms being made by Oxford and Cambridge Universities to co-ordinate and centralise admissions, as part of ongoing efforts to widen access, and we would support their rapid extension.

Box N: Robert Ogden Scholarships at the University of Leeds

Established in 1999, the Ogden scholarship scheme is aimed at widening participation amongst students from low participation neighbourhoods in Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. Through both financial aid and student support the scheme helps students to remain in full time education beyond the age of 16 and, where appropriate, to progress to university. Financially, students from low-income families receive £500 in the first year of further education study and £1,000 in the second. Students who progress to the University of Leeds receive £2,000 in each year of study. Student support and guidance is provided through student mentoring and workshops that run prior to university applications. Subsequently, upon application, relevant Admission Tutors are informed of a student's scholar status and personal circumstances. Through these initiatives the scholarship scheme has enjoyed significant success. In 2001 there were 95 Ogden scholars, 72 of whom were engaged in post-16 education and 23 in undergraduate courses. 26 scholars were expected to register as undergraduates at the beginning of the 2002-03 academic year.

6.19 We welcome the work that has been done in individual institutions and by Universities UK, but believe that more can be done to ensure that across the sector best practice in admissions is shared and followed.

6.20 We intend to ask HEFCE, working with UUK, SCOP and UCAS to examine this issue in detail, and to consider ways in which best practice might be translated into a flexible framework for admissions processes which would help to ensure fairness and consistency. Once a framework is in place, it might form a pillar of the Access Agreements discussed below.

6.21 The sector should also consider the question of post-qualification applications, as suggested by the Tomlinson report into A-level standards. The Department for Education and Skills will work with higher education institutions, colleges, schools and awarding bodies to explore the way forward.

6.22 If institutions and students are to be able to see clearly how well they are doing at improving fair access, good information needs to be available. Performance indicators published by the Funding Council give information on how well each institution recruits low participation groups and how that compares to 'benchmarks' based on what would be expected for an institution in similar circumstances, taking the qualifications and background of applicants into account. HEFCE have set improvement targets for year-on-year progress, initially up to 2004 and then to be revised up to 2010. HEFCE and UCAS are also looking to see whether data can be extracted to test whether there are any discrepancies in universities' admissions in respect of ethnicity.

6.23 The current ways of measuring access relate to social class, postcode and state/private school. The Government favours moving towards more sensitive indicators, looking at a student's family income, their parents' levels of education, and the average results of the school or college they attended. Data on family income could become available as early as 2004, and on school performance by 2006. We expect all of the new indicators to be in place by 2007 at the latest. We shall keep the existing criteria in place until we are satisfied with the robustness of the new data.

6.24 There is a cost to reaching out to students from less traditional backgrounds and offering them additional support once they are studying to make sure they fulfil their potential. The widening participation allocation, commonly known as the postcode premium, is intended to compensate institutions for these extra costs. But postcode analysis is a crude measure of disadvantage. Pockets of deprivation are often overlooked in affluent areas; and, conversely, many students who are not from disadvantaged backgrounds attract the premium. In consultation with HEFCE, we favour a reform of the premium to reflect the new access indicators of family income, parental levels of education, and the average results of the school attended, so that it better reflects need.

6.25 In addition, from 2003-04, the level of the premium will increase from around 5 per cent additional funding for each student from a disadvantaged background to around 20 per cent. This reflects a range of work that has been done, including a July 2002 study by the Education Select Committee which demonstrates that the cost of retaining non-traditional students is higher than had previously been estimated.

6.26 We also want to be sure that the premium is used properly to support these students through to successful completion of their degree - it must not be an incentive for recruiting students for whom higher education, or a particular course, is not suitable. Our low drop-out rates are a matter of national pride, but there is wide variation between institutions, with some approaching levels as unacceptably high as 40 per cent.

6.27 We know that the issue of drop-out is a complex one, and that flexible modes of learning, including credit transfer - as described in Chapter 5 - will do a great deal to help those students who wish to take a break from learning and then return, without the stigma of having 'dropped out', and without having to start again from scratch.

6.28 But we must make sure that institutions are not exploiting their most vulnerable students by making up the numbers with students who cannot cope; and we must also make sure that institutions support those who do have the potential for higher education, but need extra help to realise it. We will ask the Access Regulator to look into this question, and to develop a system of drop-out benchmarks which take into account the composition of the student body. The Regulator will have the power to fine those institutions that persistently fail to meet their benchmarks, and will be responsible for working with them to improve the position in other ways.

6.29 Those institutions that wish to charge variable fees will be required to have Access Agreements in place which set out the action they will take in order to safeguard and promote access, and the targets they will set for themselves. These will be determined by an independent Access Regulator, working with HEFCE and making use of their information and systems. The Regulator will ensure that the Agreements are robust and challenging. They will be monitored, and the Regulator will have the power to withdraw approval for variable fees, or impose financial penalties, if the Agreements are not fulfilled.

. More rigorous admissions regimes, based on the new admissions framework discussed above.

6.31 Institutions that do not wish to charge variable fees will be encouraged to use the services of the Regulator in establishing Access Agreements of their own, in order to quality assure their processes and give a guarantee to their students that they are fair and reliable.

38 MORI. The figures are based on a representative sample of 16-30 year olds living in England and Wales from social classes C1, C2, D and E. These findings are confirmed by provisional baseline figures from the evaluation of Excellence Challenge which is currently underway. (UCAS, "Paving the Way", 2002). ...return

40 Note that some of these are entering higher education for a second time. ...return