STUDENTS at private schools fear they are being discriminated against after nine pupils, who are predicted a clean sweep of A grades in their A levels, were turned away from every university they applied to.
The teenagers, from some of the region's top independent schools, have all been predicted a clean sweep of As, but at least NINE have been rejected from EVERY university they applied to. They will have to scramble for a place through the `clearing' system - which matches students who have failed to make their university offers with available places - or take a gap year.
The introduction of top-up fees of up to '3,000-a-year could make a 12-month delay expensive - increasing costs for a five-year medical degree by up to '10,000.
Some believe an increase in the number of A grades makes it difficult for universities to select the best students. Others say it reflects a deliberate move by university admissions officers to give priority to students from the state sector.
Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, believes the universities' decisions reflect government hostility against independent and grammar schools.
He said: "These students have obviously worked hard and it is disgraceful that the government should discriminate against them. If youngsters are predicted straight As then obviously they are top flight. University entry should be purely on merit."
David Vanstone, headteacher at North Cestrian Grammar School in Trafford and chairman of the Independent Schools Association, says the application process should be more transparent.
Key factor
He said: "Each student is applying to university as an individual and that should be the key factor. I think the worry is if they are given no answer then they fear they have been discriminated against."
Ian Mellor, headteacher at independent Stockport Grammar School - where two top students are without university offers - believes these cases reflect the increasing numbers of A level students applying for university places and the high number of predicted A grades.
He said: "Some do say the whole thing could be solved by having different grade currency."
Ian Thorpe, deputy high master of Manchester Grammar School, where five pupils expected to achieve top A grades have been refused a place to read medicine, also points to the difficulty of distinguishing between applicants. He said: "We have got a huge number of people who are getting straight As nationally - far more than the university places available for this type of course.
"I think there are difficulties in distinguishing between students who have been predicted high results at A level. I am sure they pick good people, but university admissions tutors must wonder whether they are picking the best."
A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which regulates external exams, said they were aware of the issue and were looking at ways of offering universities additional information, such as the actual marks awarded to particular pupils.
In some cases, they say, A grades can be awarded for students achieving between 480 and 600 marks.
Are private school students being discriminated against? Have your say.
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My son has not been to private school and he too has been turned down for medicine by all six universities he applied to. His expected top results appear to mean nothing , the computer generated replies he received give no clue as to why he was rejected at the paper sift stage. What a way to slap down the kids after they work so hard.
Whilst obviously upsetting for the kids involved, you've got to admit that it's actually very, very funny if the sort of parent who spends thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds on their child's education - with the sole intention of giving Junior a better chance in life than any of his common, less fortunate peers - then discover that they've actually DISADVANTAGED their spawn. Ha ha ha ha ha. It's been obvious for a long time that most people who've been exclusively educated are at a life-long social disadvantage (they can't mix with the lower orders, poor dears, and have no idea how to cut it in a fight) so if it's now also apparent that they're educationally handicapped, that seems like nothing less than a reflection of reality.
Of course students from comprehensives should be given an advantage. Why do we actually need to select the best? Lets have those less able doing all those jobs like brain surgery and international business deals. Yes we'll get ahead of all the other countries in the world on that basis. Soon this country will be really great!
I didn't go to a private school and knew of at least 2 people predicted straight As that had to go through clearing because they didn't get accepted in their initial choices. It's not just all about grades too, there's also the issue of the personal statement written by the student and the reference given by the teachers, if these aren't up to scratch your chances of getting accepted are reduced. After all you can get straight As with your parent/teachers breathing down your neck but when your away from home and the strictness is reduced, you have to show you're not going to just waste the opportunity enjoying the freedom
Well unfortunately just because you paid for a private education, this does not buy you the right to a place at any university you wish. You may be able to pay for an advantage with GCSE and A-Level education, but do realise that it is about the applicants ability and aptitude rather than parents wealth that determines an offer being made. In a very competitive field like medicine, universities pick the very best candidates, whatever their background.
If comprehensive educated of Bolton is a typical example of the system then god help us. No wonder this country is failing when such a patronising attitude is prevalent towards those who work hard and want better things in life. I took my daughter out of a so called good state school because it was full of inadequate children who's only ambition in life was to put down others and ruin their chances at a good education. Like many parents who pay for independent education we go without to ensure that our daughter has a decent education and why shouldn't she have a good future.
'Comprehensive-schooled', no actually it's not very very funny. It's a tragic waste of talent. The rich/poor issue is irrelevant. I would guess from your juvenile rantings that you either have a very large chip on your shoulder or you have not yet completed your schooling.
I read your story about straight "A" students from private schools being snubbed by ALL their chosen universities, with some horror. I see some were not even granted an interview!
I should like to see the statistics for the proportion of such students rejected, both in the private and public sectors, and thus I would be able to make a fair comparison. If the statistics show a significant bias then I would like to see the students so affected take their case to the courts of human rights. I am sure such discrimination would not be legal. Do the data laws entitle me to ask for such statistics? I remember, a year or so ago, the national hoo hah, when a state school girl with straight "A"s was similarly rejected. I hope this new situation receives similar coverage.
We have to remember that these kids have worked just as hard as those in state schools to get their results. Why should they suffer because the government does not provide schools of equal calibre? Why should they suffer because of a choice their parents have made? A choice frequently made because those parents simply did not consider the state system to be good enough. These families have paid twice, once in fees to the private school and also by way of council taxation, for education they do not receive. Are their taxes helping to pay for the education of children who then are jumped to the head of the queue? In many cases these parents have given up many things: holidays, luxuries, etc., they may even have taken out loans in order to scrape together enough money to send their children to private schools. I know a family, on fairly low income, who have forgone all holidays for the last six years, specifically so they could send their child to a private school. Should they have their child penalised? Of course not! Similarly we have state school pupils who have private evening tutors. Should they also be penalised? Again no. We have a lot of kids who leave the private schools to attend 6th form colleges. One reason given is that it prevents such bias, and hides their private school years. This should not be necessary. Do THEY take places in the college and later in universities that are "intended for state school pupils"?
My child does not attend private school, I cannot afford it, but have always felt that my son could compete, from a state school, on a level playing field with all other applicants, provided that he does the work and thereby gets the same results. I would feel very, very uneasy, if, when the time comes around to making university applications, my son was picked for a particular university course despite other, better kids being rejected. This form of government bias is very unfair, and such a waste of talent.
Universities should not even be told which school the kids come from when applying. They probably should not even be given a name, just an applicant number, which would remove bias for all reasons, including their racial background. This would have a great levelling effect, guaranteeing that the private school kids suffer no discrimination, either positive or negative.
Naomi Sajeri
If a university has 100 places on a course, and 200 applicants who are all predicted top grades, I don't see what's wrong with prioritising those whose educational achievement can be presumed to have been accomplished against a background of greater obstacles. From my personal experience, the privately-educated kids, on the other hand, will likely have been hothoused in smaller classes by (in most instances) better teachers - so therefore achieving the same grades does not represent the same achievement. Remember too that private schools don't have to stick to the National Curriculum: they can prioritise exam technique over breadth of education. I know my school does.
If I was an admissions tutor, all other things being equal, I'd assume the private school kid wasn't necessarily as capable as the state school kid. Which may be unfair but - lacking any other grounds for distinguishing between them - it would be an understandable assumption.
Perhaps the real problem is that private school kids - who've had educational attainment drummed into them from the word go - think they've got an almost God-given right to go to the top universities. Maybe they, and their parents, should re-adjust their expectations to take account of the very high standard of applicant across the board.
In the future, we may even see a situation akin to that of the USA, where university applicants are expected to demonstrate not just educational competence, but a wide range of extra-curricular activities e.g. community work as well, before they can expect their application to succeed.
Don't get me wrong, I am very fond of the private school pupils I teach, and they are often extremely capable young people, but the education they receive is too often partial, hothoused and geared almost exclusively towards them passing their exams (at my school, for instance, a pupil who doesn't achieve 9 grades A* to C at GCSE will not be permitted to stay to sit A Levels - they'll be kicked out). I'm willing to believe that a comprehensive pupil who achieves the same grades as their private school peers has travelled further - educationally and personally - to do so, and so if the need arises should be prioritised.
I find the suggestion that admissions tutors favour state educated pupils ridiculous. Privately educated pupils are not being discriminated against - the fact is that more state educated pupils are having the courage to apply to university and therefore competition is tougher for everyone.