MORE must be done to assist disadvantaged young people to access universities, bishops have said.
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, and the Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Pete Wilcox, contributed to a debate within the House of Lords on 14 November, on a report by Universities UK, Opportunity, growth and partnership: A blueprint for change, published at the top of September.
Bishop Treweek, who’s a pro-chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire, said that she welcomed “the report’s evaluation that, to fulfill the challenge and widen participation, universities, schools, and colleges should and will work higher together to enhance outcomes.
“I long to see learning communities by which every member can flourish. To try this, we’d like to work hard to interrupt down the barriers that prevent people accessing university, be they problems with disability, age, ethnicity, or religion. We have to be intentional in regards to the things that may enable this, and to think long run. Initiatives similar to reduced offers for disadvantaged students can and do help.”
Dr Wilcox said that the prices of going to college, similar to fees and housing, “are simply unsustainable for a growing number. . .
“We are seeing an increase within the variety of potential students who cannot afford to review or whose studies are significantly compromised by the duty to pursue concurrently a demanding burden of paid work. . . It is unacceptable to limit equality of opportunity in this fashion.”
Matters were made worse, he said, by the undeniable fact that the Special Support Grant had been abolished in 2016, and, since 2007, the household-income threshold, which determines access to the utmost maintenance loan, had been frozen at £25,000 a 12 months. “This has meant that the share of the scholar population accessing a full maintenance loan has dropped from 56.6 per cent in 2012-13 to 37.5 per cent in 2021-22.”
Dr Wilcox welcomed the report’s advice that maintenance grants be reinstated for essentially the most disadvantaged students and that maintenance loans should rise in keeping with inflation.
