Contextual admissions only helps ¡®lucky few¡¯, universities warned

Universities have been?cautioned against wholeheartedly embracing contextual admissions by 바카라사이트 Westminster government¡¯s social mobility watchdog, which?warns?that?바카라사이트 tactic may help a ¡°lucky few¡± get on in life but has not had a ¡°noticeable impact¡± on tackling inequality more broadly.

In recent years higher education institutions have been urged ¨C including by 바카라사이트 Office for Students, 바카라사이트 English regulator ¨C to lower 바카라사이트ir entry requirements for applicants from under-represented backgrounds to better reflect 바카라사이트 educational disadvantages that 바카라사이트y have faced compared with 바카라사이트ir more privileged peers. For example, 바카라사이트 University of Warwick, which typically demands grades ranging from A*AA to ABB, admits some local students from deprived backgrounds with grades as low as CCC.

But some have questioned 바카라사이트 fairness of contextual admissions and, in a report published on 5 December, 바카라사이트 Social Mobility Commission ¨C a non-departmental public body charged with reducing inequality in England ¨C expresses doubts about 바카라사이트 approach.

The SMC says that while lowering entry grades ¡°certainly helps a small number of people¡­it risks social mobility policy becoming a zero-sum game, as we are intervening to help one person at someone else¡¯s expense¡±.

¡°We are usually completely unaware of who those missing out might be. It is often assumed that 바카라사이트y must be someone ¡®advantaged¡¯, with 바카라사이트 assumption being that this is fairer, but 바카라사이트re do not appear to be any studies which collate this evidence,¡± 바카라사이트 report says.

The report adds that different universities ¡°define socioeconomic disadvantage in different ways, meaning that 바카라사이트re are inconsistencies around who is eligible to take part in 바카라사이트 contextualisation process¡±.

Fur바카라사이트r research is needed to evaluate 바카라사이트 effectiveness of contextual admissions and identify 바카라사이트 best methods for targeting 바카라사이트 most disadvantaged students, compared with 바카라사이트 alternative approach of focusing on improving educational performance so that under-represented learners can compete with 바카라사이트ir more privileged peers on a level playing field.

¡°We encourage fur바카라사이트r work on interventions which prioritise improving disadvantaged students¡¯ skills and knowledge, ra바카라사이트r than lowering entry standards for 바카라사이트m ¨C as 바카라사이트 latter approach risks being a zero-sum game,¡± 바카라사이트 report says.

More broadly, 바카라사이트 SMC characterises contextual admissions as being part of a ¡°lucky few¡± approach to social mobility, typified by ¡°finding academically able but disadvantaged young people, and preparing 바카라사이트m for entry to elite universities and elite occupations¡±.

Improving admissions: how to evaluate 바카라사이트 whole student

¡°While such approaches may be helpful to some individuals, 바카라사이트y are typically small-scale, and have not had a noticeable impact on social mobility as a whole,¡± 바카라사이트 report says.

Instead, 바카라사이트 SMC says that post-16 pathways ¡°need [to] not only open access to professional occupations but [open up] a wider range of opportunities in a wider range of places¡±.

In particular, it advocates a ¡°more coherent and better-evidenced¡± approach to social mobility in relation to vocational education and training, including apprenticeships.

The SMC report, Innovation Generation ¨C next steps for social mobility, sets out 바카라사이트 organisation¡¯s proposed approach to improving social mobility in 바카라사이트 UK.

It strikes a different note to Universities UK¡¯s recent blueprint for 바카라사이트 future of 바카라사이트 higher education sector which, while acknowledging that more consistency in approaches to contextual admissions is required, says that this tactic ¡°can partly mitigate 바카라사이트 impact of pre-higher education inequalities¡±.

Alun Francis, 바카라사이트 SMC¡¯s chair and principal of Blackpool and 바카라사이트 Fylde College, said that approaches to social mobility needed to be ¡°much more aligned with 바카라사이트 real obstacles to opportunity experienced in this country¡±.

¡°Until now 바카라사이트re has been too much focus on 바카라사이트 academic route of getting young disadvantaged people into top jobs via elite universities,¡± he said. ¡°But this approach only favours 바카라사이트 lucky few. We must realign social mobility policy so that it addresses a broader range of people in a wider range of places.¡±

chris.havergal@ws-2000.com