Seven-year-olds targeted in new university access drive

By Graeme Paton. Universities are being told to identify poor seven-year-olds with the potential to proceed onto degree courses under new plans to boost access to higher education.  Academics should intervene in primary schools where children currently have little chance of moving on to university to raise pupils’ “aspirations”, it is claimed. The Government’s Office for Fair Access insisted that institutions should mentor individual pupils, stage masterclasses and even take over the running of schools in exchange for the right to charge more than £6,000 in tuition fees.
It insisted that long-term targeted help from a young age was a more effective way to boost university admission rates than one-off measures. In guidance issued to universities, the watchdog said that institutions should set “stretching” targets designed to drive up recruitment among pupils from poor-performing schools, deprived neighbourhoods and ethnic minorities. Read more...