Underprivileged Standouts to be Encouraged by Government to Proceed to Higher Education

The UK government, through its ministers, will urge top achieving pupils who come from lower-class backgrounds to greatly consider going to university. Research results show that there are one third more number of students from privately funded schools than state funded academic institutions who seek enrollment to elite Russell Group universities. The government believes that the number of schools who underperform in advising their pupils to pursue higher level studies are more than what was projected.

To urge pupils who have high academic potential for university but may have difficulty, reluctance or are not being given encouragement to proceed, ministers will send them letters. These correspondence will have the ministers and their respective offices as the name of the sender and will be addressed directly to the students themselves. However, it will be coursed through schools so that no laws on data protection will be violated. The initiative will be started this summer.

Minister for Universities and Science The Rt Hon David Willetts MP, announced this move of the government and gave an overview on how it will be done at the Higher Education Funding Council for England annual conference in London. He said that ministers from the Department of Education and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will sign letters addressed to mostly pupils who got A and B grades in academic subjects and coming from less privileged origins. Grades in key academic subjects like English, maths and GCSEs which are essential for A-levels will be important determinants. Schools where less than 20% of students proceed to university will be considered priority targets.

Even though universities which are deserving recipients of the pupils will be identified, their names will not be made public. According to Mr Willetts, there are many criteria for matching prospective students to the academic institutions to which they will referred to. This include the specific courses, student population size and composition.

The content of the letters will be about essential pointers regarding ways on applying for degree courses for student’s time in the sixth-form. The letters will be given the personal touch as they will start with a congratulatory greeting to the pupil with one’s name on it. It will then continue with opening the subject of going to university. Then follows the tips on how to go about the process with specific information and guidance.