Universities told to find pupils aged seven years old from deprived backgrounds in plan to boost higher education
Top institutions will have to organise campus visits, masterclasses and mentoring sessions
Those who don’t could be fined £500,000
They will have to show how they are supporting pupils at primary schools in the poorest neighbourhoods
Emma Reynolds, Daily Mail
Seven-year-old children from the most deprived backgrounds should be targeted by top universities, the Government said today.
Pupils at the lowest achieving primary schools should be offered individual mentoring, campus visits and masterclasses in specific subjects, announced the Office of Fair Access.
The watchdog insisted that universities plough money into preparing disadvantaged youngsters for academic success – even taking over the running of some academies or free schools.
Every institution planning to charge students more than £6,000 in fees now has to complete an annual agreement setting out how they will support students from the UK’s poorest neighbourhoods.
This could include fee waivers, or subsidised fees for poorer students and spending money on ‘outreach’ work to raise aspirations and achievement in schools and encourage more disadvantaged school pupils to apply.
Universities that fail to meet their agreed targets on recruitment and retention face the prospect of fines of up to £500,000, and losing the right to charge more than £6,000.
OFFA said universities must focus on raising children’s aspirations and achievement at an early age to ensure they have a fair chance of going on to higher education.
The document, the first to be published by new OFFA director Professor Les Ebdon, says it is vital that universities and colleges do much more to encourage disadvantaged students to study for a degree.
Professor Ebdon says that he wants to see a ‘step-change’, adding: ‘Let there be no doubt – sustained, well-targeted outreach such as summer schools, masterclasses and mentoring can be very effective and we want to see more of it.’
Excellence: Universities such as Oxford (pictured) must show how they are preparing youngsters for higher education
OFFA says that universities must set out in their agreements the work they are doing with younger children, including those aged seven to 11, who are still at primary school.
The document says that OFFA ‘strongly encourages’ institutions to have strong links with schools and colleges that traditionally send few students to university, or have large proportions of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
