Warning over impact of university entry reforms on disadvantaged pupils
Fiona Simpson
Thursday, February 24, 2022
Plans to reform univeristy entry requirements including the introduction of minimum grade eligibility for student loans will create an “insurmountable barrier” to higher education for disadvantaged young people, experts have warned.
The Department for Education has launched a consultation on minimum entry requirements for students to be eligible for government-backed loans for tuition and maintenance.
Under the plans, students would be required to achieve grade 4 or 5 in English and mathematics at GCSE or two Es at A level.
Latest figures show that while 71 per cent of pupils in England achieve a grade 4 in GCSE English and maths this falls to just over half of pupils from disadvantaged households.
The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has urged the government to “proceed with caution”.
David Robinson, director of post-16 and skills at EPI, said: “Existing analysis from UCAS suggests that students from low-income families, black students and those from parts of the North and the West Midlands could be most affected by these changes.
“Many of these students will be applying for university in the next few years will also have experienced considerable learning loss as a result of the pandemic.”
Sir Peter Lampl, founder and executive chair of the Sutton Trust, added that “the introduction of any minimum grade requirement is always going to have the biggest impact on the poorest young people, as they are more likely to have lower grades because of the disadvantages they have faced in their schooling”.
A second consultation has been launched over plans to reduce the income level at which graduates can start repaying their loans to £25,000 from £27,295 while extending repayment time to 40 years from the current length of 30 years before loans are written off.
Other policy changes recommended in the government’s response to the Augar review of post-18 education and funding in England, which was announced by former prime minister Theresa May in February 2018, include capping tuition fees at £9,250 for a further two years and the introduction of a lifelong loan entitlement from 2025.
Plans have also been put forward to introduce an investment of up to £75m in a “new national scholarship scheme to support talented, disadvantaged students”.
Johnny Rich and Rae Tooth, co-chairs of the Fair Access Coalition said the announcements will “make it harder for young people from underrepresented backgrounds who are already less likely to attend university to do so”.
“Each proposal cuts away at opportunity. Taken together, these proposals will create an insurmountable barrier for some young people from underrepresented backgrounds who have the potential to succeed in higher education.
"We will only achieve fair access for young people from underrepresented backgrounds by making our education system fair. These proposals fail to meet this challenge and damage the life chances of those who already have the fewest opportunities,” they added.