Universities should do more outreach work

Universities should place more emphasis on outreach work, business secretary Vince Cable proposed at a conference on November 13.

He argued that outreach work proved to be very effective when it came to increasing applications from poorer students.

His comments were backed by Professor Les Ebdon, head of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), who told the conference: “Outreach raises aspiration and it makes them feel university is for people like me”.

A spokesperson for Warwick University, Anna Blackaby, stated: “The University of Warwick takes the issue of widening participation very seriously. Last year we spent more than £1 million on outreach activities and in excess of £5.5 million on bursaries and are looking to substantially increase that in coming years”.

However, Professor Ebdon insisted: “Most of the money universities are spending goes on bursaries and most of the evidence is that money would be better spent on outreach programmes.”

Widening participation officer for the Department of English and Comparative Literary studies and pioneer of the Transformations Tutorial Programme, Paul Whitehouse, asserted: “For those exceptional young people who miss out on an experience that could transform the way they see their life and their options, programmes like Realising Opportunities, Pathways to Law, Transformations, and many more help to demystify this mysterious thing called higher education.

“Better still, these programmes reassure them that university is for them, that yes, they will fit in and make new friends, and that they just might have the time of their lives and achieve things they never thought possible.”

Though already existing programmes such as the Access for All programme, IGGY, and Realising Opportunities have proved to be successful, it was suggested that the provision of bursaries were still a necessity.

Second-year Maths student Joe Reed admitted: “I feel that bursaries are very important not only for encouraging students to go to university in the first place, but also for enabling them to focus less on their money issues and concentrate on their studies and making the most out of life at university.”

Mr Reed went on to say: “Although outreach programmes are definitely a good thing, the increasing cost living means bursaries are even more necessary. They enable students of all backgrounds to attend when their parents wouldn’t have been able to support them otherwise.”

Whether or not universities will take heed of Vince Cable’s and Professor Ebdon’s advice has not yet become clear.