1 in 4 disadvantaged learners could be deprived of a higher education place
If the government goes ahead with its plans to bring in minimum student loan eligibility requirements, then poorer students as well as those from ethnic minority backgrounds will be hardest hit, a think tank has warned.
The government’s decision to restrict student loans by setting a minimum GCSE threshold, could deprive around one in four disadvantaged learners of a higher education place, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.
Black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani students would also be particularly affected. Looking at what impact the policy proposals would have had on students who sat their GCSEs in 2011 and 2012, the IFS found that while around 7 per cent of white British undergraduates would have been affected, 18 per cent of Bangladeshi and Pakistani students would have been hit, and 23 per cent of black undergraduates.
The government has proposed that loan access be limited to pupils who have gained passes in GCSE English and maths, or 2 E grades at A level.
“A blanket minimum eligibility requirement would disproportionately impact students who haven’t had the same opportunities and support to meet the attainment threshold, and would result in a widening of socio-economic gaps in access to university,” said Laura van der Erve, an IFS senior research economist and an author of the research.
The independent think tanks says that the impact would be reduced if the requirement was for school-leavers to have at least two Es at A-level or equivalents, rather than having minimum requirements for GCSE English and Maths.
Elaine Drayton, Research Economist at IFS and an author of the research, said: “Requiring students to pass GCSE maths and English in order to be eligible for student loans would be a blunt tool for targeting undergraduate provision with poor employment prospects.
“While it would remove access to student loans for entrants on low-earnings courses like creative arts and communications, it would heavily impact some subjects with strong earnings returns such as business and computer science, with 13% and 17% of age 18–19 entrants affected, respectively. Other courses with low returns but considerable social value would also be impacted, including social work and education.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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