HMC responds to Office for Students’ report on university admissions

Following the publication of a new report by the Office for Students on university admissions Mike Buchanan, HMC Executive Director, said:

“We are confident that the exceptional results and soft skills that HMC schools provide will mean that our students will continue to get the university places they wish for in a competitive UK marketplace or at prestigious universities overseas.

“However, care is needed in starting actively to discriminate against individual young people on the basis of the class they were born into. The country needs all its young people to reach their potential if we are to create a bright new future for Britain post-Brexit.

“We urge the Government to enable universities and colleges to expand to take as many truly suitable students as necessary, rather than rob some students of a future to award it to others.

“Generally, contextual admissions are perfectly reasonable if used on a sophisticated, individual basis. This should not be about school type; independent schools play an important role in getting disadvantaged students into university through offering free and discounted places. Not all state-educated students are disadvantaged and the majority of students from affluent backgrounds are not educated in HMC schools. This is why a sophisticated approach is needed for the country genuinely to level up.”