Chris Millward, former Director for Fair Access and Participation at the Office for Students, has described the government’s plans to raise university entry requirements as ‘regressive’ and ‘crude.’ Millward is now Professor of Practice in Education Policy at the University of Birmingham, and expects such plans to reduce access to meet a wealth of resistance from both young people and their parents, as many view a university degree as key to success in later life.
According to data from the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS), a record number of students accepted university places in 2021, which many have linked to an equally record-breaking number of students earning top grades in their A-Levels.
‘Bad outcome’
This month, Professor Millward wrote a paper for the Centre for Global Higher Education, Oxford University, based on his experiences working in his role for the Office for Students. The paper states that limiting access to degrees is ‘a bad outcome for all of us working in higher education,’ and arguing that the UK government cannot expect a cap on places to change demand.
Millward’s warning comes after insiders have suggested that the government is poised to announce plans for a minimum entry threshold to study at any university, using GCSE or A-Level grades to limit access to student loans. As a result of this lack of funding, it has been suggested that the government hopes this will push those who can’t get loans into attending vocational further education colleges with the aim to increase the workforce.
No longer eligible
The Guardian reported in December that university vice-chancellors are ‘expecting the government to announce that students will not be eligible for a student loan unless they have at least a level 4 [grade C] in Maths and English at GCSE.’ Analysis of Department for Education GCSE results data conducted by Million Plus, a group of universities, reveals that under this plan, nearly 50% of ‘disadvantaged’ students would no longer be eligible for a student loan, leaving them likely unable to afford the £9,250-a-year fees and thus excluded from higher education.
Professor Rama Thirunamachandran, vice-chancellor of Canterbury Christ Church University and chair of Million Plus, told the Guardian that ‘this policy entrenches inequality between rich and poor, north and south and black and white.
‘You are almost saying to a generation of disadvantaged kids: “You can’t get a student loan”. That is embedding inequality, not levelling up.’
The UK government, while never publicly stating that it hopes to reduce student numbers, has seen ministers attacking ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair’s aim to see half of all young people going to university. In July 2020, Gavin Williamson described this pledge as an ‘absurd mantra’, stating that ‘for too long we’ve been training people for jobs that don’t exist […] we need to train them for jobs that do exist and will exist in the future.’
Speaking to the Guardian, a spokesperson for the Department for Education said that, as of yet, there have been no decisions made concerning minimum entry requirements, highlighting that the current government is ‘committed to continuing to level up opportunity so every young person can fulfil their potential.’