Oxbridge admissions report highlights folly of government's plans for expansion of AAB A-level students

UCU said the report highlighted the shortcomings of the government's supposed commitment to enhance opportunity for students from the poorest backgrounds.
 
The union said the report from the Sutton Trust showed that an expansion in the number of degree places available to students who receive AAB grades at A-level would most likely be filled by students from the most privileged backgrounds.
 
The union added the report exposed the contradictory nature of the government's promise that universities would only be able to charge maximum fee levels if they actively recruited more students from the poorest backgrounds.
 
In December a Sutton Trust report revealed that a comprehensive school student with A-level grades BBB is likely to perform as well in their university degree as an independent or grammar school student with A-level grades ABB or AAB -
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The government's plans to hike the price of a degree up to £9,000 a year and expand places for students from schools more likely to produce high grades send a quite chilling message to students from poorer backgrounds.
 
'This government's higher education policy seems driven by a desire to reserve places at some institutions for the most privileged. Today's report exposes the fact that Oxbridge is already over-represented by a handful of schools and suggests the government's commitment to widen participation is nothing more than warm words.
 
'Universities will not be able to recruit students from a more diverse background under the government's plans, which make a mockery of the regulations around what fees they can charge.'
 
Westminster School, Eton College, Hills Road Sixth Form College, St Pauls School and St Pauls Girls School produced over one in 20 of all Oxbridge admissions between 2007 and 2009. The full report is available from the Sutton Trust.