6/18/2014 BBC News - Willetts: White working class boys missing out on university

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EDUCATION & FAMILY
3 January 2013 Last updated at 14:42
Willetts: White working class boys missing out on university
COMMENTS (323)
Universities in England should be doing more to encourage applications from white working class boys, Universities Minister
David Willetts says.
The group could be targeted in the same way as other disadvantaged groups, he told The Independent.
Boys are now out-numbered at university by girls.
And the final figures for those going to university in the UK last autumn showed a bigger drop in applications from boys than girls.
Girls are more likely to apply to university than boys and more likely to get places at the most selective institutions.
Mr Willetts says there is a "shocking waste of talent" among some young people not going to university.
He told The Independent that the Office for Fair Access (the university access watchdog), "can look at a range of disadvantaged groups
- social class and ethnicity, for instance - when it comes to access agreements, so I don't see why they couldn't look at white, working-
class boys".
Offa is charged with making sure universities in England set themselves targets to increase applications and take-up of places from
disadvantaged groups.
'Shocking waste of talent'
Speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio Four, Mr Willetts said while it was up to universities to decide who to admit, they
could be doing more to help teenagers from poorer backgrounds to make the grade, for example by inviting them back for repeated
summer schools, to raise their chances of getting good A-levels.
"There are groups that are under-performing. There is a shocking waste of talent of some young people that could really benefit from
university that aren't going there," he said.
The final figures for last autumn's university intake in the UK show a fall in applications from men which was four times that among
women.
Just 30% of male school-leavers applied to university for autumn 2012, compared to 40% of female school-leavers, according to Ucas.
Mr Willetts told The Independent this was "the culmination of a decades-old trend in our education system which seems to make it
harder for boys and men to face down the obstacles in the way of learning... That is a challenge for all policymakers and parties."
He added: "I do worry about what looks like increasing under-performance by young men."
Mr Willetts told Today universities in England had been told to spend about a third of the money they gained through increased tuition
fees on "reaching out and improving access " and that this amounted to "hundreds of millions of pounds".
"We want to see that used as effectively as possible," he said.
By Angela Harrison
Education correspondent, BBC News
6/18/2014 BBC News - Willetts: White working class boys missing out on university
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The poor performance of many white working class boys in schools is something that has been highlighted in the past, particularly by
England's schools watchdog Ofsted.
Results of national tests known as Sats taken by 10 and 11-year-olds in England show that children on free school meals do less well
than their classmates, and the pattern continues to GCSE level.
Last year just 66% of those known to be eligible for free school meals reached the expected level in English and maths, compared with
82% of all other pupils.
Just 60% of white British boys on free school meals reached that level, while 68% of black British boys did so.
Social engineering
Universities generally say that the under-representation of certain groups at university is mostly because they are not getting the
qualifications needed while at school.
Universities do run summer schools and other programmes aimed at encouraging applications from disadvantaged groups, but some
politicians and campaigners would like them to do more.
But any suggestion that universities should be made to admit teenagers with lower grades than others because of their background can
be met by accusations of "social engineering".
Universities say they do take applicants' background and potential in to account when deciding on places.
Academics represented by the University and College Union say they agree that more needs to be done "to convince certain groups that
university is for them" - but say poorer teenagers will be put off by increased tuition fees.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU, said: "We need our brightest people pursuing their dreams.
"However, a host of recent government policies have made university a far more expensive option and the drop off in student
applications suggests the increased price is a factor."
The government says no one should be put off going to university by finance because fees are not paid up-front and teenagers from
poorer homes qualify for bursaries and loans to cover their living costs.
Figures out on Thursday from Ucas show a 6.3% fall in university applications from 18-year-olds in the UK compared with the same time
last year. England and Wales show the biggest falls.
Your comments (323)
Comments
This entry is now closed for comments
124. BPMKent
3RD JANUARY 2013 - 16:57
I'm middle class I guess & went straight to work instead of uni as I didn't
want the debts. A middle class mate went, now has debts and a low paid
job plus commuting to London. A working class mate did an electricians
apprenticeship, is an honest hard-working tradesman (not a cowboy),
earns twice what I do & 4 times my Uni-London working mate. Good luck
gov!
55. Extraterrestrial
3RD JANUARY 2013 - 15:14
White "working class boys" are smart enough to know that you must be
stupid to go to university and come away with a degree (that in no way
differentiates you from the crowd) PLUS 30,000 of debt.
48. steve
3RD JANUARY 2013 - 15:09
The 54000 individuals who have chosen not to go to University accrue
75000 of debt and still stand a 1 in 5 chance of finding themselves
Unemployed afterwards have made an entirely rational decision.
Editors' Picks All Comments (323)
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Comments 5 of 7 Show More
In the 70's I went to a Top UK University from my Local Comprehensive
with a full grant and no fees.
I wouldn't have done so if I thought I would be up to my ears in debt when I
graduated
46. jax
3RD JANUARY 2013 - 14:58
Coming from a working class family I feel that it will be beyond our means
to enable my son to attend university. He is bright and academically
minded but we are on average incomes and would not qualify via the free
school meals route. Universities will be full of the poor and well-off with
those in the middle missing out.
20. Dr F R Southerington
3RD JANUARY 2013 - 14:30
In 1957, I was a "poor boy," the first in my family ever to go to university. I
demonstrated my capacity, and generous local and State aid made it
possible (London, Oxford, and three degrees).. That aid no longer exists.
The Minister is astonished at falling numbers? He could obviously use a
little education himself -- in cause and effec.
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