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Commentary
Lydiamae5y ago
• Elitism is a large problem at university. Whilst I do agree that not everyone can thrive at university, as university isn't for everyone, the grade boundaries to certain universities are often unfair, and the application process tends to favour certain groups of people over others.
• Alongside this, certain universities also have a reputation for being rather elitist. As [Joshi Hermann] (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/oct/10/britains-best-universities-are-dominated-by-private-schools-could-i-help-level-the-playing-field) writes, 'the application process is supposed to uncover talent and potential, but often seems designed to reward traits such as confidence and polish, handing a significant advantage to applicants whose parents went to university, and whose school knows the subtleties of a good application, often due to decades or even centuries of experience.'
• In 2017, Bristol university announced its [Bristol Scholars] (https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2017/jan/26/universities-must-do-more-to-tackle-the-unfair-elitist-admissions-system) scheme, where the university offers places based on potential rather than exam grades or attainment.
• This scheme is beneficial as a lot of times, an individuals potential is not reflected in exam grades as the results of an exam are subject to the conditions on the day - a person could be having a bad day and not do as well as predicted, which reflects poorly on their academic commitments.
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Turi5y ago
Ensuring access is blind, and working actively to bring greater diversity in to universities seems self-evident.
But ditching grade boundaries would, I believe, be a terrible idea.
In France, the Netherlands, Italy and elsewhere, anyone who passes their A-Level / SAT equivalents can go to university. They are only then winnowed out, leaving many people with incomplete university careers, having spent years at institutions without getting a degree.
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Lydiamae5y ago
I agree that grade boundaries are there for a reason - if you can’t complete the grades required at A Level then it’s highly unlikely that you would be able to keep up with university standard work.
But then there’s the case of people who go through clearing with lower grades than required on the course, who are just as successful in their university career. I’ve also experienced first hand coming from a small town school with serious underfunding how some students are neglected in their high school careers but really do have the potential to succeed if they were given a chance at university level, but do not have the grades to do so… but I think that’s more to do with an issue in secondary education, not the university system! I guess really it all goes hand in hand.
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