Morning:
9°c
Denham hits at Oxford chief
Tim Ross, Education Correspondent2 Oct 2008
The war of words over Oxbridge admissions has escalated after the Universities Secretary accused Oxford's chancellor of having "outmoded" views.
John Denham hit out at Chris Patten after he told a conference of private school headteachers that universities were being asked to "make up for the deficiencies of secondary education" and were being forced to lower entry standards.
Mr Denham responded by telling an audience celebrating the Government's Aimhigher scheme to promote university to disadvantaged pupils: "There is now widespread acceptance across our universities that the current system does not yet capture all the talent that exists in young people across the country. Which is why it is all the more disappointing to hear the comments of critics like Chris Patten who have an outmoded view of the central issues in widening participation."
Oxford's head of admissions has said it can do no more to encourage students from disadvantaged areas to apply without compromising academic standards.
Reader views (5)
Incredible - Mr Denham seems unwilling to appreciate that Oxbridge and other top universities should and must offer the "best" candidates the places available. If they do not, they will simply devalue the degrees they confer. It is the duty of the secondary educational system (NOT Oxbridge) to bring the students up to the level necessary for entry. It has to be run as a meritocracy, with best students offered the best places, otherwise employers will be quick to reject graduates of lesser ability and downgrade their opinion of universities using admission as a method of social engineering. Jay Atie, with the best will in the world - you need to sort your grammar out, people will take what you say more seriously.
- Paul G., London, 03/10/2008 08:50
Report abuse
Nu Labour devalued GCSE's and 'A' levels in an asinine attempt to show their education policies were working through rising exam pass rates.
Not content with having trashed the 'gold-standard' of exams, the A level, they are now determined to devalue our top universities by forcing them to admit below calibre students.
- Martin, Reading, UK, 03/10/2008 06:45
Report abuse
Incredible - Mr Denham seems unwilling to appreciate that Oxbridge and other top universities should and must offer the "best" candidates the places available. If they do not, they will simply devalue the degrees they confer. It is the duty of the secondary educational system (NOT Oxbridge) to bring the students up to the level necessary for entry. It has to be run as a meritocracy, with best students offered the best places, otherwise employers will be quick to reject graduates of lesser ability and downgrade their opinion of universities using admission as a method of social engineering. Jay Atie, with the best will in the world - you need to sort your grammar out, people will then take what you say more seriously.
- Paul G., London, 02/10/2008 17:52
Report abuse
The reason for not catching talent is the endless dumbing down of 'A' levels. Noadays three straight 'A' grades are not uncommon. When I was a school an 'A' and two 'B's were exceptional. The fact that Mr. Denham cannot see this is worrying.
- Michael, London, 02/10/2008 13:13
Report abuse
I'm surprise Chris Patten made such comment as far as I am concern he has no clue about what's going on in many of our local schools. And his comments does not help those who work so hard to get to where they are. By the way whose standard are we talking about? a standard that is not relevant to this generation nor was itin his time all it did was to create a class system.
- Jay Atie, London, 02/10/2008 12:45
Report abuse
