MERITOCRATIC ADMISSIONS POLICIES IN UNIVERSITIES

Early day motion 925, tabled 20 March 2003 by David Chaytor (Labour). Signed by 38 members.

That this House welcomes the Government's determination to encourage the leading research universities to develop fairer admissions policies based on the most effective procedures for assessing ability; notes the evidence from the Higher Education Funding Council that, for any given total of A-level points, pupils from comprehensive schools perform better in terms of degree class than pupils from private schools; further notes the evidence contained in, School Performance and the Likelihood of Getting into Bristol, that, of all Bristol undergraduates with excellent A-levels, those from weaker schools were more likely to gain better degrees than those from stronger schools; welcomes the new proposals from Universities UK identifying objective criteria to more accurately predict university applicants' potential and congratulates the vice chancellors of those universities who have chosen to take account of this evidence in their admission policies for resisting the inappropriate and unprofessional pressure applied on them by the Headmasters' Conference.

Signatures by party: Labour 30, Liberal Democrat 4, Labour/Co-operative 3, Plaid Cymru 1.