Working class children 'let down' by education system

The Telegraph, 9th June 2009

Children from working class backgrounds are being left behind by the British education system because they are not properly prepared to win places at university, according to one of the most wide-ranging reports ever conducted into the schools system.

A rise in the number of university admissions tests is stopping poorer students getting places, while a culture of "teaching to the test" at state schools and a propensity for children from disadvantaged families to take vocational courses also holds them back, the study said.

The Nuffield Review concluded that the current education system for 14-19-year-olds was tailored to serve the interests of richer pupils.

It said: "More often than not, such learners will be on the 'royal route' to higher education, from which will flow preferential access to better paid and more interesting work. Those who are left behind are ill served."

Almost 50 universities across Britain now require candidates to sit entrance examinations in one or more subjects.

Many have been imposed amid growing concerns that a rise in A grades at A-level prevents tutors selecting the best candidates.

The research, led by academics based at Oxford University and London's Institute of Education and backed by the Nuffield Foundation charity, suggested the move presented a "barrier" to higher education for students from poor backgrounds.

It said sixth-formers from wealthier homes were more likely to succeed as they could get private coaching to pass entrance exams, tightening their grip on places at the most selective universities.

As the Daily Telegraph disclosed on Saturday, Imperial College London is introducing its own entrance exam after admitting it struggles to cope with record numbers of students applying with straight As.

Other institutions including Oxford, Cambridge, University College London and Warwick also set tests in subjects such as medicine, law and mathematics.

The report called for schools to work closely with each other to provide the best education, and said admissions tests set by universities must be "curbed".

"These tests lie outside the regulatory framework, and in some cases, as they can be relatively expensive, subvert equality of opportunity," it added.

The Nuffield Review comes just days after official figures showed a drop in the number of working class students admitted to university last year.

It also found a drop in the number of students being admitted to university after studying "vocational" qualifications.

At the same time, it said the practice of "teaching to the test," or focusing education around public exams to boost schools' league table positions, was "impoverishing" children's education. Many were left ill-equipped for the rigours of degree courses as a result.

The report concluded that a wider view of education for 14-19-year-olds is needed, focused on the "whole person" rather than narrowly based on academic success or providing "skills for economic prosperity".

"There's a need for a much broader view of education and educational achievement. We need to look at why some young people are turned off, why they have both a sense of failure and are called failures. We have a very narrow view of what it is to be successful," said the lead author, Oxford's Professor Richard Pring.

I think working class children have always been let down by the education system and this sorry situation will continue regardless of how many changes and reforms are implemented. Home education is rising fastest amongst lower and working class families as they are increasingly recognising that if their children are to receive the best education for them, then families are going to have to take it into their own hands.

There is always the possibility that children from disadvantaged families will benefit more from a vocational course than an academic education.



This has got nothing to do with class or wealth. It is the direct consequence of A Levels being dumbed down and trivialised.



HE children may well benefit from admissions tests because it means they don't have to bother taking GCSE and A Level exams to get into university.



Primarily because of high tuition fees. Working class children are being let down by the government which imposed tuition fees rather than the education system.



Could it be the result of vocational courses being cheaper than university degrees. You can only have what you can afford.