Clarke: considering proposals

Universities could be given the chance to choose students from ethnic minorities over other applicants in order to increase student diversity.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke has backed the proposals as "fairer and more transparent".

The government's higher education admissions task-force published a report on Tuesday which encourages universities to consider, "the educational benefits of diversity" when deciding on who to offer places to.

The report goes on: "Generally, admissions staff are not legally permitted to consider an applicant's race, sex, sexual orientation or religion in determining whether or not an application is to be accepted.

"However, they may consider an individual applicant's experiences, skills and perspectives and how these could contribute to the learning environment of the course or to the wider community."

Vice-chancellor of Brunel University Professor Steven Schwartz, chairman of the taskforce, added: "There really is a compelling educational reason for having a diverse student body."

Schwartz said diversity could be defined by a range of factors including race, religion and class.

He suggested that where two applicants were of the same basic academic ability, universities might want to choose the student with the more "diverse" background.

Some critics are worried that encouraging selection on grounds of race could lead to a flood of race discrimination legal actions.

Asked about this aspect of his plan, Schwartz said: "Lawyers will always be with us."

Applications

The report also says that students should be able to apply to go to university after they have taken their A Levels.

The education secretary, Charles Clarke said of the proposals: "It must be fairer for students to know their final results before making important choices about where and what to study."

The system is also backed by headteachers' organisations and university chancellors, who believe the current system is too "hit and miss", wasting time and effort on both sides.

Headteachers claim that around 60 per cent of predicted A Level grades are not achieved, creating a system that is not based on actual outcomes.

The proposals would lead to youngsters having to take their exams slightly earlier than at present, with students applying after they received their results - traditionally mid-August but with scope for being moved forward, thanks to technology.

Opposition welcome

Opposition politicians and teachers broadly welcomed the professor's proposals.

Shadow education secretary Tim Collins said plans for allowing teenagers to make university applications after receiving their A Level results were sensible in theory but would "need detailed work in practice".

"Today's report must not be used to further the wider social engineering agenda of a government which clearly does not believe that access to higher education should be determined solely by academic merit," he said.

However the Liberal Democrat education spokesman Phil Willis said the government had dragged its feet over reform.

Willis said: "It took the government seven years to recognise what students, parents and universities have known for a long time: it is fairer and easier for students to apply to university after they have received the results on which the whole admissions system is based. A speedy implementation is now crucial."

Teachers and students

The Professional Association of Teachers gave the report a "cautious welcome".

General secretary Jean Gemmell said the plans for post-qualifications applications would be "sensible".

"Students would be spared a great deal of stress and the administration of applications to higher education would be simplified.

"We would support making the whole admissions system fairer and more transparent."

But she warned that the new guidance on increasing "diversity'' at college should not lead to "social engineering".

Students' union NUS said the report had missed the chance to improve access.

Vice-president for education Hannah Essex, said: "While these recommendations might make the admissions process fairer, there are many barriers which students need to overcome to gain access to higher education.

"This includes the increasing cost of studying, rising levels of graduate debt which will be only made worse by the introduction of top-up fees in 2006."