Reports on widening access contradictory

7th Feb 2010

CONFLICTING mes­sages have emerged this week regard­ing Labour’s suc­cess in com­bat­ing social inequality.

The Government-commissioned Hills report claims that the chasm sep­a­rat­ing the rich­est and poor­est seg­ments of soci­ety is the same today as the 1980s.

The report – and Gor­don Brown – appor­tion sig­nif­i­cant respon­si­bil­ity to the Tory gov­ern­ments who presided over the huge rise in unem­ploy­ment and social divi­sions dur­ing that decade.

Yet it also inti­mates that Labour have failed in their efforts to reverse the trend, despite a repeat­edly stated com­mit­ment to increas­ing social mobil­ity and devel­op­ing a meritocracy.

The aver­age house­hold wealth of the rich­est 10 per cent cur­rently stands at £853,000 – almost 100 times higher than the fig­ure for the poor­est 10 per cent.

How­ever, as the Prime Min­is­ter steels him­self for the class war­fare that tra­di­tion­ally pre­cedes elec­tions – which found recent expres­sion in his jibes aimed at David Cameron and George Osborne’s Eton edu­ca­tion – he may find a mea­sure of solace in the find­ings of a study by the Higher Edu­ca­tion Fund­ing Coun­cil for Eng­land (HEFCE).

They reveal that chil­dren from the most dis­ad­van­taged areas of the coun­try are now 50 per cent more likely to go to uni­ver­sity than they were 15 years ago.

The report praises Labour’s increased fund­ing for schools and edu­ca­tion, and sug­gests – per­haps con­tro­ver­sially – that increased fees have not deterred poorer stu­dents from embark­ing on degree programmes.

Sev­eral insti­tu­tions have imple­mented spe­cific schemes which aim to improve access to higher edu­ca­tion among areas of ‘low participation.’

Birmingham’s ‘Access to Birm­ing­ham’ pro­gramme is tasked with rais­ing aware­ness and aspi­ra­tions in such neigh­bour­hoods, as well as recruit­ing poten­tial students.

Since its incep­tion in 2000 it has sup­ported over 800 peo­ple who have gone on to gain a place at the University.

The news came against a back­drop of con­cern over access to uni­ver­si­ties in the imme­di­ate future. Peter Man­del­son recently hav­ing announced that almost £1 bil­lion must be cut from the higher edu­ca­tion bud­get over the next three years.