The aim of the updated accountability measures is to get school leavers to seek a wider range of institutions and vocational options.
The government will discontinue measuring schools in England with the number of their students who made it to Russell Group or Oxbridge universities. This move is to motivate school leavers towards a wider range of universities and vocational options.
The DfE’s updated accountability measures for students between 16 and 18 say that the department will no longer include proportions of students who gained admission into Oxford and Cambridge universities or Russell Group universities as part of individual school destinations data.
The reform was welcomed with enthusiasm by the university leaders, who earlier expressed worries about the inclusion of the Russell Group measure. According to the university leaders, the Russell Group metrics meant that parent and schools were guiding their students to attend these universities instead of seeking a wider range of universities and vocations options.
The director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, Nick Hillman: “I welcome the change because government metrics should not be based on self-selecting clubs. There are excellent universities in the Russell Group and excellent universities outside it and we shouldn’t push people towards the former just because it helps a school’s league table position.”
The proportion of students who attended “high tariff” universities will still be included in the school performance as the top third based on entry grades. The proportion going to universities, colleges or apprenticeships, as well as Oxbridge and the 22 other members of the Russell Group, will be added to the school performance table.
The Russell Group has changed from informal gatherings of vice-chancellors at hotel on Russell Square in central London into a coalition of “research intensive” universities, including Glasgow, Warwick, and Cardiff.
However, the group left out other universities with similar structures, like St Andrews, Bath, and East Anglia. The Department for Education’s national statistics disclosed that the Russell Group has recently increased its overall student share of students.
Though the Russell Group institutions were included in the progression figure for the top third of selective universities, the education department stated that the change would avoid duplication. The objective basis from year to year would change based on the entry crisis.
According to Lee Major, a professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, he is worried that scrapping the metrics would take pressure off leading universities to improve access.
He stated: “Social mobility is much more than catapulting a lucky few into our elites but that doesn’t mean switching off the spotlight on the country’s most prestigious universities to ensure they are drawing on all talents, particularly at a time when student intakes are becoming more privileged.”
“The aim of education should be that no one’s background should dictate their future, whether they pursue a vocational, creative or academic path – and success shouldn’t be judged solely on someone able to ‘leave to achieve’.
“But failing to diversify student intakes at highly selective universities will mean our future elites are increasingly unrepresentative of the society they are.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Education stated: “We are determined to widen access to higher education so that everyone who wants to attend university and meets the requirements can go. Our world-leading universities are engines of growth and opportunity, and we support them in delivering for students, local communities, and the economy.
“We are dedicated to creating a sustainable higher education funding system to break down barriers to opportunity.
“As well as university, there are also a wide range of routes into a rewarding career which we will continue to expand and support, including apprenticeships, vocational qualifications and degree apprenticeships.”
