Care needed on overhauling university admissions process, school principal warns
The Government's review of university admissions process - moving away from the current system based on predicted A-level grades - must be looked at in much greater detail, the principal of an independent girls' school has said.
George Budd, from Moreton Hall, near Oswestry, has written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson about a recent consultation on university admissions, which suggests a radical shift to waiting until exam results are known before an offer it made to individuals.
He fears that there would not be enough time between results day and university starting for advice from teachers or to organise accommodation.
In his letter Mr Budd writes: "After the tumultuous past 12-18 months, we educators might hope that the Department for Education would be busy avoiding another summer of disastrous u-turns, calming the seas after a disrupted year. Nevertheless, and with questionable timing, we are facing a government-initiated review of the university admissions process, specifically around moving away from the current system based on predicted A-level grades and towards an admissions process once A-level grades are known.
"All this at a time when schools are managing the impacts of a pandemic, supporting staff, pupils and families back to normality and operating as Covid testing centres, on top of their main job of educating the nation’s youth.
He said that while the present system had its issues "we must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater".
Funding
Mr Budd added: "The general gist is that the proposed reform is about helping underprivileged pupils to aim higher and be better matched to universities by eliminating predicted grades. Yet the government has decimated funding for careers advice in state schools in recent years and cut state school budgets so staff don’t have as much spare time to help pupils because they teach too many lessons;
"Universities are businesses in a way they just weren’t 20-30 years ago when they were better funded by government. "
He said the notion that already underfunded maintained schools would be able to provide the much needed advice and guidance for applicants during the summer holiday period after results day seemed optimistic to say the least.
The principal instead suggested expanding and promoting the use of the UCAS Adjustment, with pupils getting their results being placed into adjustment and then either confirming an existing offer or shopping around for a set period of time.
"One could imagine a quota of places in every course having to be made available via Adjustment," he said.
"Pupils process things like accommodation choices, transport and friendships during the currently long period between being made an offer and going in October. Rushing this process after results in late August and before an October start date risks paying lip service to these important considerations."
"It is bad enough for medical applicants every year at the moment, and the idea of extending this uncertainty, anxiety and stress to every pupil is something I would find very hard to support."
