It isn’t just fees that put people off university

In an effort to ensure that fees of £9,000 won’t deter people from poorer backgrounds going to university, those institutions that wish to charge the full amount will have to spend 10 per cent of that fee on improving access for poorer students. The new guidelines from the Office for Fair Access, are an implicit recognition of the fact that high fees, and the prospect of higher debts, probably will deter some people from applying for university, or unduly influence a person’s choice of university. The money will be used for fee subsidies and outreach work in trying to persuade people from poor areas to apply for university.

But there is another side to the debate on fair access that hasn’t been recognised.

That is – what happens on the other side of the journey? If people are to be encouraged to go to university, there needs to be a specific incentive for poorer people. A young person who faces a difficult decision on whether or not to go to university may begin to think twice if he or she cannot see the benefits of doing so.  Increasingly a person in this position may see the lengthening queues at the job centre amongst university leavers, or the ranks of the unpaid interns struggling to develop the contacts necessary for a career in an increasing number of fields.

It is not just at the entry stage where outreach work is needed, and it isn’t just amongst poorer families where outreach work should be targeted. Universities need to be making far greater efforts in ensuring students from poorer backgrounds are able to stay on their courses, but also in supporting poorer students obtain graduate employment upon leaving. This means also ensuring that some professions examine their own recruitment practices and remove barriers that can prohibit poorer students from obtaining careers.

There are also some measures that need to be considered by government. If internships really must stay in some professions then they need to be considered part of the educational process, and thus finance made available on the same terms as funding for actual courses to students who undertake this route. Secondly, a far greater commitment to tackling youth unemployment more generally must be undertaken, and incentives given to employers to encourage the recruitment of trainees at all levels should be adopted, with the roles they perform designed specifically with career progression in mind. Finally, for those who want to become self employed, the government should also examine ways of ensuring finance is available to support start ups and entrepreneurs – particularly from poorer backgrounds. In other words, they need to ensure efforts are made in ensuring more equal outcomes for education as well as more equal access.

If there is one thing we have learned about adult education, it is that people referred into education can become extremely disillusioned if courses and qualifications do not lead to good employment, and this disillusionment with education can quickly spread through communities and families leading to poorer outcomes over the long run. If we fail another generation of poor students by denying them access to decent professions when they graduate, then we will deter many more from even trying.