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9 Sep 2005 10:28:46
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Luton has today condemned as “the wrong solution to the wrong problem” the Government’s proposals to change the application process to UK universities.
Speaking at the University’s Graduation Ceremony, he told the 500-strong audience that the Government’s latest proposal to move to a post-qualification application process will disadvantage both students and universities such as Luton.
He said: “This is the wrong problem because the Government seems to be obsessed with a small number of students whose A level grades are better than expected and who did not get into what, the Government calls, the ‘most prestigious’ universities.
“All universities have had their teaching quality reviewed and these independent reviews, by the Government’s own Quality Assurance Agency, have confirmed that the academic standards of all universities in this country are broadly similar.
“Indeed, the University of Luton comes 14th out of all universities – and top among new universities – in a league table based on these assessments.
Even I, the strongest advocate of the University of Luton, would not claim we are number 14 in the snobs’ league table. But prestigious does not correlate with teaching quality. So this isn’t a problem which the Government should be addressing.”
The real problem, he said, is the 100,000 students every year who apply through UCAS for a university place, are qualified, but then fail to take up a place.
“These are the students from poorer homes, who are disadvantaged in a country that needs more graduates. That is why we have worked hard to ensure that support for students is increased substantially as of next year.”
He added: “The Government’s proposals announced today are the wrong solution because, far from increasing student choice, they reduce the number of universities to which a student may apply from six to four.
I don’t believe the proposals are workable and the sooner we address the real problems with real solutions, the sooner we can produce a fair system, which enables more of our population to become graduates.”
Latest news» 2005» Sep» Education Chief Condemns Government Proposals
