St Andrews warns it is unable to be more accessible

St Andrews is in hot water. The university has warned that it expects to face a considerable challenge to widen its access to low-income students in the coming year because so few young people from Scotland’s poorest areas are able to achieve entry level grades.

Our auld university has the toughest entry requirements in Scotland (as we are all well aware) and was widely criticised for admitting only 14 students from the 20 most deprived Scottish areas in 2011. Representatives of the university said that Scotland needs a broad effort to improve education beginning in nursery, or the problem cannot be fixed. After recieving a Freedom of Information request from Scottish Government, the university has revealed that of the 8,872 Scottish fifth year pupils from the country’s most deprived areas in 2011, only 220 received three As on their Higher Exams.

St Andrews’ new target is to increase its intake of students from these areas by 45%, though  it has encountered a difficult predicament: lower its academic standards or live with continuing criticism for slow progress in recruiting less privileged students. The university has also pledged to introduce a Computer Science program for access students, to hold discussions with other universities in Scotland to improve access for students applying to St Andrews through college courses, to increase the bursary support for Scottish students, and to guarantee a place with the possibility of financial support to the Dux of every secondary school in Fife who meets entry requirements.

Stephen Magee, Vice-Principal with responsibility for admissions said, “this is not a question of any lack of commitment, will, or investment in scholarships and bursaries on our part. We want Scotland’s brightest here, regardless of background.”

He went on to reference Scotland’s responsibility when he said, “as a nation, however we continue to lay responsibility for widening access solely at the door of universities, the challenge will never be properly met. We believe it requires a concerted effort on health, employment, better housing and a stronger culture of attainment at all levels of Scottish education to equip young people with the grades they need to gain entry and to succeed at university.”

Image courtesy of University of St Andrews