University academics should be sent into underachieving state schools to raise standards among poor pupils, according to the Government’s social mobility tsar.
Lecturers should be expected to provide “intensive training” for teachers in disadvantaged areas to boost GCSE and A-level pass rates, said Alan Milburn.
Speaking ahead of the publication of a major report this week, he also called on teenagers in the state system to be given the same rigorous preparation for university applications and interviews as those in private schools.
The reforms are needed to dramatically increase the number of pupils from disadvantaged areas going on to Britain’s top universities, it was claimed.
Mr Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister enlisted by the Coalition to review policies surrounding social mobility, warned that universities were currently wasting millions of pounds on bursaries and tuition fee discounts in an attempt to boost admission rates among deprived teenagers.
He claimed that poor GCSE and A-level results remained the biggest barrier to higher education, insisting that universities’ efforts should be channelled towards direct intervention at a much earlier age.
In a controversial move, his report will also call for institutions to be given more funding for each poor student recruited onto degree courses – creating additional incentives for universities to target deprived areas.
It will also recommend that universities routinely carry out background checks on students as part of the admissions process, allowing them to lower entry requirements for pupils from underperforming schools.
The disclosure is likely to fuel the debate surrounding “social engineering” in university admissions and lead to fresh fears that privately-educated schoolchildren are facing discrimination.
But Mr Milburn said: "There has been a lot of focus in recent years on the economic good that universities bring to the country, but there should be an equal focus on the social good they can bring.
“I think study after study shows that, for all the efforts the universities have made, they aren't properly recognising potential and aptitude in who they admit to university.”
Mr Milburn has been tasked by the Government to review policies aimed at improving social mobility in Britain. He has already criticised the lack of access to professional occupations and will publish a further report this week assessing barriers to top universities.
Speaking ahead of the launch, he quoted figures showing that the most advantaged 20 per cent of teenagers were seven times more likely to get into a leading institution than the poorest 40 per cent.
Currently, universities spend hundreds of millions of pounds giving poor students bursaries and subsidised tuition fees to take degree courses. But his report will claim that many pupils fail to apply in the first place because of poor performance at school.
“The principal reason… is not money, it’s qualifications,” he told The Sunday Times.
“The universities know that and argue that but then don’t put their money behind efforts to to help school kids in disadvantaged areas get better school qualifications.”
He said universities should provide “intensive training” for teachers in state schools and help increase the number of pupils studying tough subjects such as maths and science. He also suggested they should play a greater part in helping pupils apply to university.
“Most state school teachers are deeply ambitious for their pupils but, as a generalisation, private schools intensively prepare their pupils for university applications and admission in a way that state schools don’t,” he said.
Mr Milburn will also call for a higher education scheme similar to the pupil premium, which gives state schools a lump sum for every pupil recruited from poor homes.
He will also spell out the benefits of using “contextual data” – information on pupils’ family background, ethnicity, disabilities and the performance of their school. This is currently used by some universities to allow disadvantaged pupils to be admitted with lower A-level grades than teenagers attending top-performing schools.
Source: 14th October 2012, The Telegraph by Graeme Paton – Education Editor
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