University admissions: can contextual data open doors to poorer students?

By Gill Wyness. Without students achieving the right combination of subjects and grades, it's hard to see how using contextual information would solve the problem and ensure fairness, argues Gill Wyness. It is a disappointing fact that there remains a huge gulf in the university participation of pupils depending on their background or the school they went to. Yet despite what many think, the issue here is not aspiration – research suggests that around half of students in the poorest quintile of the socio-economic status distribution aspire to go to university at age 14, even though only around 13% go on to do so. Read more...