Working with primary schools is key to getting disadvantaged young people into university

2013-03-09

UK universities need to reach out to children in primary schools if they want to increase the number of people from disadvantaged backgrounds benefitting from higher education, according to an interim report on promoting fair access.

The report found that outreach needs to begin earlier – at primary school age - and should then continue throughout school and college in order to gain the maximum impact.

Many universities already work with primary schools, for example running taster days, campus tours and mock lessons, but more needs to be done to replicate this throughout the country and improve the way universities work together.

The report was commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). BIS has asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) to produce a ‘National Strategy for Access and Student Success’, which maximises the impact of all the spending by government, HEFCE and institutions.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

“Access to higher education shouldn’t depend on your background. It should reflect your potential. Universities plan to spend over £670 million through their access agreements to attract people from disadvantaged backgrounds by 2016/17. I want to ensure it is well spent.

“This report suggests ways to get a better mix of people applying for university and how to help them to stay the course.”

Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said:

“Institutions are investing a huge amount of money widening access so it’s important that we really understand exactly what works.

“This interim report is an important first step in the development of the national strategy. We look forward to the final report and the delivery of the strategy which will help government, HEFCE and institutions to better target funding.”

HEFCE Chief Executive Alan Langlands said:

“This report is the first step in the development of the national strategy for access and student success. This work has provided us with a welcome opportunity to demonstrate the effect of concentrated effort and investment in widening participation and how we might focus resources in the future.

“We look forward to continuing to work with OFFA and the higher education sector to inject pace and rigour into our work on widening participation and improving social mobility.”

Director of Fair Access to Higher Education Les Ebdon said:

“In the development of this national strategy, we’re building on more than a decade of effort which has already substantially increased the numbers of people from disadvantaged backgrounds who go to university. However, there’s still a large gap between the participation in higher education of the most and the least advantaged in our society and we need to shrink this gap further.

“Over the next few months we’ll be calling for evidence from across the sector and also examining the findings of new research that both HEFCE and ourselves have commissioned to inform the development of the national strategy. Our hope is that we will then be in a position to recommend where we should all be focusing our efforts to maximise the impact of investment in widening participation.”

The initial research undertaken by HEFCE and OFFA also confirms much of the current understanding about the effects of university outreach work:

•Outreach is one of the most effective ways to promote progression
•Targeted outreach, delivered as part of a sustained, long-term programme, is more effective than one-off activities.

OFFA and HEFCE will submit their final report to ministers in the autumn.

Source: UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills