Treat white working-class boys like ethnic minority, Willetts tells universities

By Richard Garner. Massive fall in admissions demands drastic action, Universities minister says. Universities will be told they should recruit more white, working-class boys in the wake of figures showing a massive slump in applications from men for courses.
The Universities minister David Willetts wants white, working-class teenage boys put in the same category as students from other disadvantaged communities and ethnic minorities – as groups that should be targeted for recruitment.
The move has the potential to create conflict with Britain's independent schools if universities – as a result – use it to discriminate against middle-class applicants in order to curry favour with the university access watchdog, the Office for Fair Access. Read more...