The application and admissions system for higher education in the United Kingdom has a certain reputation for being easy to get into; many students graduate with A-levels or even A* levels, thus granting them the ability to get into the nation’s top colleges, such as LSE, UCL and Imperial. However, given the large number of secondary school students who end up graduating with such high scores as to get into the most prestigious universities, there is a concern that this affects the quality of the student body in these universities. In essence, the chief question being asked is whether or not this low barrier to entry is not a true indicator of excellence, and allows even mediocre students to attend these schools. The grade inflation that is currently occurring in the UK to allow for greater social inclusion into UK universities like Cambridge and Oxford is resulting in higher drop out rates and the lowering of the quality of English university degrees.
In recent years, there have been a larger number of university applications for the nation’s top schools; applicant pools are much more diverse, with the number of students who have not taken or received A-levels on the rise from 30% (Paton, 2012). This has been the result of dramatically lowered admissions standards for these schools, allowing students of varying academic performance in their secondary school years to apply and attend higher education. This has the effect of raising the student pool, but lowering standards for admissions to include those who may not be perceived as having the temperament for university. This is one of the primary arguments being made against these lower requirements.
Higher education performance tables of students in UK universities has displayed an 18% student drop-out rate (“Talking Point,” 1999).
There are many reasons speculated for this, including the inability for students to tackle the pressure of a university setting to overly lax admissions requirements. Grade inflation is a large and looming phenomenon, especially in the past twenty years – in essence, schools and teachers are encouraged to give higher grades to their students in order to avoid poor evaluations by students, to diminish the perception that they are bad teachers, and more (Paton, 2012). There are many problems with grade inflation, as they make it more difficult to pick out students that are actually exceptional, as their excellence is not reflected in the generous grades the teachers give all their students. Furthermore, grade inflation does not carry over equally between schools, putting departments and schools that grade more harshly at a disadvantage. At the same time, it can also be said that grade inflation can prevent demoralizing students, which can often lead to even worse academic outcomes, and it is also impossible to gauge the extent of grade inflation as opposed to other departments (Paton, 2012).
One of the primary reasons behind these lower admissions requirements is initiatives by government officials to provide greater social inclusion into higher education in the UK. For example, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called for lower admissions requirements for poorer students, asking institutions to “throw open their doors” to lower-class Britons in order to attack the institution of the British university as “instruments of social segregation” (Chapman, 2011). The idea is that the institution of higher education is naturally skewed toward the rich, as they are more able to dedicate time and money to their education in the form of tutoring, classes, high university tuitions, and more. On the whole, 57% of students from privileged backgrounds go on to college while only 19% of poorer students do the same, leaving a substantial class-related disadvantage in the workplace (Chapman, 2011). To that end, the lowering of these admissions requirements allows more people to get the chance to attend college (an endeavour that is becoming increasingly necessary in order to get a good job), and as such can be seen as a good thing.
Another reason for the lower requirements in higher education courses is the lower number of applicants that have been found in recent years. Applications for higher education have lowered by nearly 9 percent, due to the tuition fee policies that have been put in place to permit universities to charge more in tuition. Many universities charge up to £9000 a year, creating a huge pay wall that can otherwise prevent many from attending higher education (Reid, 2012). To offset this, grade requirements are being lowered. For example, Anglia Ruskin University has Accounting and Finance courses that will now just ask for 160 UCAS points (the A-level equivalent of two Ds and an E); this is a marked departure from the 240 points that have been required in previous years (Reid, 2012). The top universities in the country ask for at least one A* grade (including Durham, Cambridge and Oxford), so top-end colleges are maintaining comparatively higher admissions requirements.
Despite the good intentions of these lowered admissions requirements, there are many who dispute the outcomes of these initiatives. For one, a major argument is that these lowered requirements means accepting students whose academic abilities are somewhat limited; this can sacrifice the standard and quality of these degrees. In short, by admitting less intelligent or hard-working students, having a degree from that university does not mean as much from an education standpoint. These colleges can have reputations for admitting less-capable people, diluting the meaning of having the degree. No longer do college students have to have gotten a string of A-level grades; universities are admitting people even after failing their A-levels or getting two Es (Russell, 1998). This is seen as a bad thing, as it fails to reward those who work hard to achieve excellence in their education up to this point; it is perceived that, if someone with B and C level grades can attend Oxford, students no longer have to try hard to receive an A.
There is a counterargument for this claim, which involves the use of lower admissions requirements as business incentive for universities. In order to fill the aforementioned gap in admissions and university placements, these lower admissions requirements offer students a real chance to study despite not having made it into the privileged category of A-level genius. It can be argued that grades are not a real indicator of true intelligence, and motivated students can still have bad secondary school grades (Russell, 1998). The process is a delicate game between students who want the chance to attend college despite lackluster grades and a school system desperate for candidates to fill recruitment quotas. Whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing is debatable; it is certainly a strong business practice, but can lead to the loss in quality of the degree in general. This also ignores the possibility that poor students in secondary school can thrive in the new environment of college, not to mention the other mitigating factors that can affect academic performance irrespective of intelligence.
There is plenty of evidence to indicate that students who did not get A-levels in secondary school can thrive in college. Greater than 50% of the full time students attending the University of East London had no formal qualifications at all, and their entrance and graduation figures suggest that their performance is at least on par with their A-level colleagues (Russell, 1998). To that end, it can be stated that good secondary school education is no indicator of future quality as a college student; instead, it should be urged that universities should look harder and more imaginatively to find creative and committed students without the need to bow to academic pressure in their secondary school years.
One solution that has been proposed to the question of student body quality in UK universities is the chance for applicants to sit in on a competitive entrance examination. Recently, more than 75 universities set out to create these exams to curb admissions to their colleges (Paton, 2012). This was done in order to create an identifiable performance metric for these colleges, as grade inflation meant they could no longer rely on A-levels to guarantee performance and quality of their students. Many institutions are focusing on increasing their admissions standards, with the goal of recruiting more high-ability students from every class of British life.
Another possible solution is to restrict students’ choices between two universities. In these proposed admissions changes, students receiving their A levels would be forced to choose between only two universities in their applications process – currently, sixth-formers apply to around five institutions, and many of their offers are dependent on the predicted grades they will receive (Chapman, 2011). This solution would reduce the blockage that happens with so many students applying to so many universities at the same time, forcing them to make hard choices and make strategic decisions regarding their university options. As numbers of applying students are increasing (729,000 students for 487,000 university places in 2011), these kinds of measures would allow for some bottlenecking to take place in the admissions process (Chapman, 2011).
The phenomenon of high admissions for students in the UK, regardless of grades, is an interesting one with many implications. Some argue that it is a benevolent way to level the playing field and not allow standardized test scores to determine intelligence, providing a barrier to entry to those who want to learn. On the other hand, there are those who believe that these high acceptance rates bring in students who are unprepared or unwilling to work with the college environment, churning out degree-holders who dilute the brand of these college. Solutions have come in the form of standardized testing and restriction of university choice to limit the glut of admissions; whether they work or not remains to be seen. Nonetheless, it is evident that universities have some hard choices to make regarding what they should favor: the quality of their education or the importance of filling seats in their institution.
Works Cited
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Paton, Graeme. “More students forced to sit university admissions tests.” The Telegraph 13 Jul
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Reid, Jenny. “Universities drop entry requirements in an attempt to fill empty spaces.” The
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