5) It’s not over, even though the fat boy sang

The debate about widening participation and university admissions has flared up on a number fronts over the past few weeks. One spat has been over the extent to which considerations of social disadvantage should influence admissions to the elite universities, especially Oxford http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/oxford-is-not-a-social-security-office-947427.html and http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a17127d6-8c2e-11dd-8a4c-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1 I notice that Cambridge seems to have a more sympathetic attitude and are making much better progress than Oxford, even though I have always thought (it would seem wrongly) of Cambridge as the most reactionary university in the UK. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7631070.stm An alternative view of the merits of an elite Oxford education found its way into the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/02/oxforduniversity Elsewhere, debate has been sparked by the news that the government is backing a new system of grading state schools ‘on the proportion of their pupils who attend top universities http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/oct/03/schools.highereducation I think it is interesting that these types of discussions increasingly hinge on the importance of bad subject choices by some students while still at school. The National Council for Educational Excellence has recommended that all primary school children should get a ‘taste’ of university education http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/government-report-give-pupils-early-taste-of-university-949715.html the same report recommended that universities should be free to vary the A-level grades expected from applicants depending on the schools they attend http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7648733.stm which is probably just as well because a report from HEFCE has found that a number of universities are doing this already http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/sep/30/accesstouniversity The government has decided to strengthen this trend by sponsoring increased flexibility and experimental admissions procedures at 9 universities - Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter, King's College London, Leeds, Leicester, Newcastle, Southampton and Warwick. http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=379525&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False The sensitivity of this subject was reflected in this discussion article in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/sep/24/accesstouniversity.highereducation This debate is not over, but I think the detail of these discussions and the different systems of access and admissions that are beginning to emerge could be of great relevance to the work of The Brightside Trust.