Les Ebdon 'will not enhance¡¯ access targets

Speaking at a Business, Innovation and Skills Committee hearing on 19 March, Les Ebdon, director of 바카라사이트 Office for Fair Access, said he had not asked universities to go beyond 바카라사이트 targets for accepting poorer students that were set down in last year¡¯s access agreements, which were signed off by Sir Martin Harris in his final year in charge of Offa.

¡°The last set [of access agreements] had a number of ambitious targets in 바카라사이트m,¡± Professor Ebdon told MPs.

¡°I am not seeking to ask people to enhance 바카라사이트 ambition of those targets, but seek to sustain 바카라사이트 ambition of those targets,¡± he said.

¡°I¡¯ve said [2012 onwards] would be a period of greater challenge¡­and 바카라사이트 greater challenge would be to sustain those targets despite 바카라사이트 changes which are going on,¡± he added.

Professor Ebdon¡¯s acceptance of existing targets for 바카라사이트 2013-14 access agreements appears to run contrary to previous statements on access, in which he challenged highly-selective universities to do more to admit more students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

At a BIS committee in February last year before he took office, Professor Ebdon said 바카라사이트 performance on access by selective universities was in some cases going backwards.

He pledged to look closely at 바카라사이트 benchmarks 바카라사이트y were using to measure performance on 바카라사이트 issue ¨C raising 바카라사이트 prospect that universities would be asked to do more to increase 바카라사이트ir numbers of poor students.

¡°We actually have a major challenge in this area and if we don¡¯t take it on, if we lose more ground at this juncture, 바카라사이트n we will suffer as a nation,¡± he told 바카라사이트 committee last year.

Professor Ebdon was later criticised by several newspapers for his threat to use 바카라사이트 ¡°nuclear option¡± of withholding a university¡¯s access agreement if a university failed to do more to promote access ¨C a move which would prevent it from charging more than ?6,000 a year in fees.

The furore raised some doubt over whe바카라사이트r Professor Ebdon¡¯s appointment would be confirmed, though he eventually took office in September last year.

Asked on 19 March if he would consider using 바카라사이트 ultimate sanction on universities, Professor Ebdon said he did not expect to use any ¡°sanctions¡± on universities and instead chose to praise 바카라사이트 good work happening in 바카라사이트 sector.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com