Aspirations of Oxford or just blowing bubbles? Whilst numbers have risen, the chances of poorer students accessing university have remained relatively low. That this has not changed much since 1928 must remain a serious worry in a society that should be aspiring to be more equal. Over that time, the funding of universities had staggered from fees to grants and back to fees. But, whatever the regime, providing sufficient financial support has been the only way to open the door for poorer students. Judging from the speech made this week at the Resolution Foundation by Damian Hinds (the current Education Minister), this would seem to be the case. He concentrated on two major issues that turn out to have been problematical for the Government’s social mobility policies over recent years. He started by consideration of the so-called 'seven key truths' that affect social mobility and that were published in an all-party Parliamentary report on Social Mobility in 2012 [...

Education takes time This posting  is intended to lay down a challenge to all post-16 education providers.   It is especially important for Universities and Colleges to understand the constraints on their students. Most do not consider what their students are actually doing with their time week on week. They prefer to concentrate on what they produce and assess that as progress and attainment.  They do not generally consider how the assignments or studies are done or what might be the constraints and time frames for their students. It is time for this to change and each institution must be asked to gather more information from all of their students on how much time they have to study. Many students have plenty of spare time on their hands, whilst others are in employment to fund their studies. The current situation amounts to a massive and deteriorating deficit in equality of opportunity that affects thousands of students. The deficit in equality and study tim...

For disadvantaged students, the prospect of a debt  30 years has to be balanced against securing greater earnings. To most students, Social Mobility means a better house, job or even a new car better than that of their parents. For poorer students, progress means having a house, any job and maybe a car. A report in The Financial Times (FT) last week ‘UK social mobility at risk as progress stalls’ [1] prompted some thought about looking again at what Social Mobility actually is and how it is progressing. The FT relied heavily on a recent OECD report ‘A Broken Social Elevator? How to Promote Social Mobility’ [2] that reviews the position of countries around the world with regard to Social Mobility. The basic argument of the FT is that the UK has made considerable progress in Social Mobility and cites the introduction of tax credits and the minimum wage as the main drivers of improvements made since 1990. However, in the last two years there as been a slowing of the progres...

The overarching feeling this week was that things are changing. The Times Higher Education survey and teaching rankings will come in for some considerable criticism. However, they have set out a major challenge for universities if they are to truly serve our society and redress the social imbalances. The important input from students in the survey is highly valuable in fuelling the debate. The earlier Stand Alone conference illustrated the pressing need for this through the direct experiences of students. Their voice should be more widely heard and appreciated. This week saw two events at the University of Glasgow that will have a direct effect upon students and the provision of Higher Education.   The link between the events is more than just a coincidence or geographical. Very important factors that determine the success of many students in universities were under examination. The Times Higher Education Summit announced the ‘ Teaching Rankings in Europe’ that are bound t...