Russell Group targets “preferred subjects”

The Russell group has been asked to produce better advice to university applicants on which subjects are most useful for studying at A Level.

The call came from Graham Stuart, chairman of the Commons Education Select Committee, after recent research cast doubt on a list of “facilitating” or “preferred” subjects created by the Russell Group.

In a letter to the Russell Group, Graham Stuart said that “young people need access to reliable information, to help them make the best possible decisions about their subject choices at A Level – and about the degrees their talents may equip them to take.

“It is vital that organisations like the Russell Group supply high-quality guidance, backed up by reliable statistics. Applicants to our best universities should not be short-changed by incomplete or inaccurate advice.”

The list of “facilitating” subjects appeared in a document produced by the Russell Group called ‘Informed Choices’.

Recent research carried out by Laura McInerney at the education think tank LKMco stated that the list did not provide the full story as a number of subjects were absent from it despite appearing to aid applications for certain university courses.

The research used data from a Freedom of Information Act showing the number of people applying to popular courses with a particular A Level subject, and the number of them that were successful.

The data was collected from the Russell Group universities with the exception of both Oxford and Cambridge University.

Drama and Economics were found to be good A Level subjects for essay-based courses at a Russell Group university, even though they are not on the list of “facilitating” subjects.,

Accounting, Art and Design and Psychology all proved strong choices for particular university courses. Laura McInerney concluded that “the ‘three facilitating subjects’ measure is dangerous… Preferences differ across subject, across university, and will depend on the student”.

The Russell Group responded to the think tank findings, saying that the data doesn’t take into account the combinations of A Level subjects taken by applicants; instead focusing on isolated subjects.

Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, commented on the research: “Clearly many students will study a combination of facilitating and non-facilitating subjects.

“It is impossible to draw any meaningful conclusions from looking at individual subjects in isolation without knowing the range of subjects a student has taken or what grades they achieved.

“The author herself acknowledges that the figures do not allow her to see combinations of A Levels and her analysis ignores achievement which is clearly a hugely important factor in admissions to selective institutions.”

Applicants are advised in the ‘Informed Choices’ document that having at least two “facilitating” subjects would “keep options open” and that some subjects are “required more than others”.

Peter Dunn, head of communications at Warwick University, said that “the idea is that by choosing them [“facilitating” subjects]… It gives you more choices of University”.

The “facilitating” subjects include Maths, Further Maths, English Literature, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Geography, History and Languages.

A new school league measure has been introduced based on the proportion of pupils who achieved three A Levels in the facilitating subjects list at AAB or higher.

Warwick’s entry requirements for all courses can be found here and each course here.