A commission set up by the Scottish Government in 2014 has published a report highlighting recommendations to help bridge the higher education access gap north of the border.
Accessibility
Last month the Commission on Widening Access published 34 recommendations to help increase the number of disadvantaged students entering higher education.
Speaking to The National, Sir Peter Lampl said: “Scotland faces a real access challenge, and it is vital that these radical measures are put in place to address it.
“We particularly hope that the next Scottish Government introduces the independent Commissioner for Fair Access speedily so that he or she works closely with universities to ensure that disadvantaged students with the potential to succeed get the chance to do so.”
Recommendations
Currently, students from areas such as Ferguslie Park in Paisley and Possilpark in Glasgow are four times less likely to continue into higher education thane those from the wealthiest areas of Scotland, such as Craiglockhart in Edinburgh.
The report also includes a number of access targets. These include:
- 20% of first-year undergraduates to come from the 20 worse-off areas of Scotland by 2030
- Those who have been in care and meet the required entry standards should be entitled to a place on a university course.
- A commissioner should be appointed by the government to help drive the agenda across the country.
- Loans for student living costs should be replaced with a non-repayable bursary by the start of the 2017 academic year.
Coordination
Dame Ruth Silver chaired the body on behalf of the Scottish government and warned that the recommendations will only be met if there is a coordinated response from the education sector and government.
She said: “Access is a whole system problem and it will require system-wide change to solve it.”
Silver continued: “Access is a sophisticated and subtle problem, rooted in family homes, local communities, and complex mix of factors that shape aspiration and in the cultural differences between socioeconomic groups.
“It is exacerbated by the systemic unfairness evident in the admissions and selection processes of institutions, in the school attainment gap and in the efficiency of transitions between education sectors.”
Sir Peter Lampl is the founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust, the UK’s leading organisations dedicated to improving social mobility through education.
More information about the Sutton Trust’s research can be found on its website.
Comments are closed.