Today the Sutton Trust conference heard from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg that too often children from disadvantaged backgrounds saw certain university courses and careers as “not for people like me”.
For me the need to widen access to our most selective universities is something we have to support.
“Widening participation”, means creating opportunities for people from all kinds of backgrounds to realise their dream of higher education, and in particular widening access to our most selective universities.
That’s why today I am asking the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and OFFA to work together on a joint strategy for widening participation – you can read them here and here.
I want the HE sector to concentrate on delivering and developing programmes that are proven to support applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds – and stop those where the measurable impact has been limited.
Collaborative programmes such as Realising Opportunities and individual activity such as Partners at Newcastle University and Reach for Excellence at the University of Leeds are excellent examples of how young people can gain a better understanding of what university is really like. They break down the misconceptions, which for too long now; have stopped those from disadvantaged backgrounds considering higher education as a possibility.
It’s time to harness the best of this work and demonstrate to young people that our colleges and universities offer all kinds of courses – and many different ways of learning – that can prepare them for a brighter future.
I would be interested to hear your own experiences and views – what programs really work, what hasn’t, as it’s crucial that potential applicants get a feel for what university is really like and understand how it can set them up for life.
