2003 University of Bristol admissions controversy
Encyclopedia
The University of Bristol admissions controversy was a dispute over the admissions process for the University of Bristol
in the United Kingdom which occurred in 2003. The dispute was caused by concerns over bias in the admissions system for the University in favour of state school studentsIn the United Kingdom a state school is a government funded school which provides education free of charge to pupils. In official literature they are known as maintained schools and include a wide variety of schools including faith based schools and grammar schools. All schools which are not state schools are independent schools. See State school. after the rejection of some students with strong academic records who attended independent school
s.In the United Kingdom a public school refers to a privately funded school funded by the payment of tuition fees. The terms "private school", "public school" and "independent school" are used fairly interchangeably to refer to fee paying school which operate free of the state although "public school" is usually reserved for the leading fee charging independent schools. In the United States the term "public school" refers to government funded schools. See Public school (government funded). The University's widening participation policy allowed the awarding of slightly lower offers to promising applicants from schools with poor academic records. Controversy surrounding this policy resulted in a brief boycott of the University by some independent schools and intense media debate about the fairness of the admissions policy as well as praise and criticism of the policy and the boycott from politicians, student leaders and education groups. The boycott was lifted after two months when the Independent School's Council expressed satisfaction with the fairness of the admissions system. Two years later a survey of independent schools concluded that: "It is likely that rejections which may have seemed discriminatory to parents and schools have in fact, been due to a large rise in suitably qualified applicants" and independent evidence was compiled suggesting that claims of bias were wildly exaggerated.
is a Government policy in the United Kingdom which attempts to widen access to higher education by increasing numbers of underrepresented groups including ethnic minorities, the disabled and those from lower income families. Widening participation is a strategic aim of the Higher Education Funding Council for England
, the body which allocates funding to Universities. The Bristol admissions dispute is one of two policial controversies over widening participation that occurred during the 2000s. In 2000 the Laura Spence Affair
involved the rejection of a state school student who applied to study Medicine at Oxford University and resulted in similar debate about widening participation. Bristol University first introduced a widening participation scheme in 1999 after the Dearing Report
, a report which gave recommendations to the government on the expansion and funding of the British higher education system. Bristol's policy was in part a result of this report as well as being a principled attempt by the University to attract applications from state schools, something Bristol has traditionally struggled to do.
The aims of the 1999 Participation Strategy were to:
The University's widening participation policy was reviewed in 2001 when a report called The Way Forward set out how the University could meet HEFCE participation targets. Under the access initiative each UCAS applicationIn the United Kingdom, applicants apply to University through the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service. Offers to study may be awarded and these are either conditional on exam performance (e.g. an offer of AAA at A-level) or unconditional. If an applicant does not meet their offer then a University may reject an applicant. A University need not make the same level of offer to all applicants. See UCAS
to Bristol was examined centrally before being passed to University Departments. Applications from schools where the average A-level grades were less than CCC were "flagged-up" to alert tutors to disadvantage. Bristol's state intake increased from 49.3% in 1998 to 60% in 2003 under the scheme.
Bristol has been described as "one of the most competitive universities to get into". At the time of the controversy the university had the third highest private school intake (only Oxbridge
was higher) with only 57% of students coming from state school backgrounds. This has led some to label it elitist. In 2003 it was reported that the University has 39,000 applicants for its 3,300 undergraduate places each year. In Bristol had 2,000 students were hunting 100 places in history, and 1,500 students of English chasing only 47 places, leading The Guardian
to argue that many well qualified students would be disappointed.
stated that the admissions procedures for Bristol
, Durham
, London School of Economics, Manchester, UCL and Edinburgh should be examined for bias.
The boycott of the University was announced on 04 March 2003 by the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
and the Girls' Schools Association
who expressed concern that the admissions policy could lead to the "apparently arbitrary rejection of well-qualified candidates".
In a joint statement they said:
However as it is students who decide which Universities to apply to it was not possible for private schools to prevent their students from applying to Bristol. The "boycott" amounted to schools discouraging sixth formers from applying to Bristol. The Telegraph
described an academic boycott of this kind as "unprecedented".
Among the rejected candidates cited as evidence of bias was Rudi Singh a student at King Edward's School
. Singh was rejected from Bristol yet accepted to the University of Cambridge
.
Four students with 10A*s at GCSE and 4 As at A-level were rejected. Two had attended Bedford School
. One student, Mark Smith, gained 9 A*s at GCSE and was predicted 3 As at A-level yet had his application rejected. Sushila Phillips, a student at Westminster School
, was rejected from Bristol despite gaining a mark of 296 out of 300 in AS level English. Phillips later stated that she did not believe that she had been rejected because she attended Westminster School and that it was important that Bristol had control over its admissions system.
The University highlighted the fact that it is one of the most popular in the country with over 39,000 students for 3,000 places in 2002. In History, English, Economics and Law competition is so fierce that over 30 students can be competing for one place. In English there were 47 places and 1500 applicants of whom 500 had a perfect A-level score of AAA at A2, meaning that many top candidates were rejected.
Eric Thomas also emphasised the work the University was doing to "reach out" beyond the middle-classes. In a BBC interview he stated:
The University of Bristol
stated that it is against any kind of discrimination in the admissions process and that the policy of making lower offers to exceptional students from state schools and disadvantaged backgrounds was not in order to satisfy the government or gain funding:
Presidential Election attributed his loss to supporting the admissions policy. However, residents of Wills Hall
wrote letters to the newspaper defending the hall against accusations of classism
.
, a trade union
which represents head teacher
s in the United Kingdom stated that the "HMC and GSA are guilty of gesture politics of the worst kind... They are merely shooting themselves in the foot by pursuing a boycott".
and the Daily Express
criticised the admissions policies in their headlines. The Daily Mail greeted the story with the headline "Insidious social engineering destroying merit and aspirations" and the Daily Express stated "More students being turned down for being middle class". Journalist Simon Heffer
wrote in the Daily Mail that he was pleased that "at last the middle-class are fighting back".
He went on to state the controversy could damage Bristol's academic reputation:
The then-head of the Commission for Racial Equality
Trevor Phillips
expressed surprise that his daughter had been rejected. In The Times
he stated "Though I have no disagreement with greater access, I would have hoped universities and the government would have a slightly more sophisticated policy than simply 'blacklisting' independent schools".
commented on the controversy, stating that university should grant places on the basis of merit rather than class. He added that he wanted to see more working class people in higher education but was forced to backtrack from comments made by Margaret Hodge
which argued that Universities such as Bristol should be set formal targets for widening access.
Charles Clarke
, then the Education Secretary, described independent school criticisms as "ill-informed brouhaha" and told schools to ignore the boycott. He also stated that it would be inappropriate for government to become too involved in university admissions. The then Shadow Education Secretary Damian Green
accused the government of trying to "fiddle admissions for political ends". Liberal Democrat
MP Phil Willis
said that "social engineering is coming ahead of merit and the development of talent."
Sir Howard Newby chief-executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England
(HEFCE), the university funding body argued that Bristol's admissions polices were fair and accused sections of the media of becoming involved in a "moral panic" over positive discrimination.
expressed satisfaction with the admissions policy for Bristol. In response to the controversy the University introduced a new, more transparent admissions policy. In 2005, the Independent Schools Council
published a report which cleared Bristol of bias. The report surveyed applications by 20,000 private school pupils and found that in 60 of 300 courses surveyed 98% of private school pupils were offered a place.
Statistics available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency
published in 2008 show that Bristol's state intake stood at 63.1% a decrease from 65.1% the previous year. Data from 2009/2010 shows Bristol's intake from state schools and colleges to be 60.0% an identical figure to 2003 when the controversy over admissions occurred.
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
in the United Kingdom which occurred in 2003. The dispute was caused by concerns over bias in the admissions system for the University in favour of state school studentsIn the United Kingdom a state school is a government funded school which provides education free of charge to pupils. In official literature they are known as maintained schools and include a wide variety of schools including faith based schools and grammar schools. All schools which are not state schools are independent schools. See State school. after the rejection of some students with strong academic records who attended independent school
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
s.In the United Kingdom a public school refers to a privately funded school funded by the payment of tuition fees. The terms "private school", "public school" and "independent school" are used fairly interchangeably to refer to fee paying school which operate free of the state although "public school" is usually reserved for the leading fee charging independent schools. In the United States the term "public school" refers to government funded schools. See Public school (government funded). The University's widening participation policy allowed the awarding of slightly lower offers to promising applicants from schools with poor academic records. Controversy surrounding this policy resulted in a brief boycott of the University by some independent schools and intense media debate about the fairness of the admissions policy as well as praise and criticism of the policy and the boycott from politicians, student leaders and education groups. The boycott was lifted after two months when the Independent School's Council expressed satisfaction with the fairness of the admissions system. Two years later a survey of independent schools concluded that: "It is likely that rejections which may have seemed discriminatory to parents and schools have in fact, been due to a large rise in suitably qualified applicants" and independent evidence was compiled suggesting that claims of bias were wildly exaggerated.
Context
Widening participationWidening participation
The widening participation in higher education is a major component of government education policy in the United Kingdom and Europe. It consists of an attempt to increase not only the numbers of young people entering higher education, but also the proportion from so-called "under-represented...
is a Government policy in the United Kingdom which attempts to widen access to higher education by increasing numbers of underrepresented groups including ethnic minorities, the disabled and those from lower income families. Widening participation is a strategic aim of the Higher Education Funding Council for England
Higher Education Funding Council for England
The Higher Education Funding Council for England is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the United Kingdom, which has been responsible for the distribution of funding to Universities and Colleges of Higher and Further Education in England since...
, the body which allocates funding to Universities. The Bristol admissions dispute is one of two policial controversies over widening participation that occurred during the 2000s. In 2000 the Laura Spence Affair
Laura Spence Affair
The Laura Spence Affair was a British political controversy in 2000, ignited after the failure of high-flying state school pupil Laura Spence to secure a place at the University of Oxford.-Background:...
involved the rejection of a state school student who applied to study Medicine at Oxford University and resulted in similar debate about widening participation. Bristol University first introduced a widening participation scheme in 1999 after the Dearing Report
Dearing Report
The Dearing Report, formally known as the reports of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education is a series of major reports into the future of Higher Education in the United Kingdom, published in 1997. The report was commissioned by the UK government and was the largest review of...
, a report which gave recommendations to the government on the expansion and funding of the British higher education system. Bristol's policy was in part a result of this report as well as being a principled attempt by the University to attract applications from state schools, something Bristol has traditionally struggled to do.
The aims of the 1999 Participation Strategy were to:
- Increase applications from students from underrepresented groups
- Put in place an admissions system to enable admissions tutors to identify and make offers to applicants from underrepresented groups who have the potential to complete our programmes successfully, with the aim of increasing the number of entrants from such groups
- Ensure that students from underrepresented groups are given the support they need to achieve the learning outcomes and feel comfortable at Bristol, and to encourage integration of students from all backgrounds.
The University's widening participation policy was reviewed in 2001 when a report called The Way Forward set out how the University could meet HEFCE participation targets. Under the access initiative each UCAS applicationIn the United Kingdom, applicants apply to University through the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service. Offers to study may be awarded and these are either conditional on exam performance (e.g. an offer of AAA at A-level) or unconditional. If an applicant does not meet their offer then a University may reject an applicant. A University need not make the same level of offer to all applicants. See UCAS
UCAS
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service is the British admission service for students applying to university and college. UCAS is primarily funded by students who pay a fee when they apply and a capitation fee from universities for each student they accept..-Location:UCAS is based near...
to Bristol was examined centrally before being passed to University Departments. Applications from schools where the average A-level grades were less than CCC were "flagged-up" to alert tutors to disadvantage. Bristol's state intake increased from 49.3% in 1998 to 60% in 2003 under the scheme.
Bristol has been described as "one of the most competitive universities to get into". At the time of the controversy the university had the third highest private school intake (only Oxbridge
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
was higher) with only 57% of students coming from state school backgrounds. This has led some to label it elitist. In 2003 it was reported that the University has 39,000 applicants for its 3,300 undergraduate places each year. In Bristol had 2,000 students were hunting 100 places in history, and 1,500 students of English chasing only 47 places, leading The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
to argue that many well qualified students would be disappointed.
Boycott
Accusations of bias were first made in 2002 when the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ConferenceHeadmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference is an association of the headmasters or headmistressess of 243 leading day and boarding independent schools in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and the Republic of Ireland...
stated that the admissions procedures for Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
, Durham
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
, London School of Economics, Manchester, UCL and Edinburgh should be examined for bias.
The boycott of the University was announced on 04 March 2003 by the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference is an association of the headmasters or headmistressess of 243 leading day and boarding independent schools in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and the Republic of Ireland...
and the Girls' Schools Association
Girls' Schools Association
The Girls' Schools Association is the professional association of the heads of independent girls' schools in the UK and overseas and is a constituent member of the Independent Schools Council .-History:...
who expressed concern that the admissions policy could lead to the "apparently arbitrary rejection of well-qualified candidates".
In a joint statement they said:
In these circumstances, we must send a clear message to Bristol. We cannot recommend to our colleagues that they should encourage young people to apply to Bristol until such time as the university can assure us that its procedures are fully documented, fair, objective, transparent and consistently applied.
However as it is students who decide which Universities to apply to it was not possible for private schools to prevent their students from applying to Bristol. The "boycott" amounted to schools discouraging sixth formers from applying to Bristol. The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
described an academic boycott of this kind as "unprecedented".
Among the rejected candidates cited as evidence of bias was Rudi Singh a student at King Edward's School
King Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...
. Singh was rejected from Bristol yet accepted to the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
Four students with 10A*s at GCSE and 4 As at A-level were rejected. Two had attended Bedford School
Bedford School
Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School or Bedford High School or Old Bedford School in Bedford, TexasBedford School is an HMC independent school for boys located in the town of Bedford, England, United Kingdom...
. One student, Mark Smith, gained 9 A*s at GCSE and was predicted 3 As at A-level yet had his application rejected. Sushila Phillips, a student at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, was rejected from Bristol despite gaining a mark of 296 out of 300 in AS level English. Phillips later stated that she did not believe that she had been rejected because she attended Westminster School and that it was important that Bristol had control over its admissions system.
University of Bristol
The University denied any discrimination in the admissions process but reserved the right to take the educational background of students into account when assessing their A-level grades. In a written response to the Independent Schools Council, Vice Chancellor Eric Thomas stated that the University did not operate a quota system for students from any particular school or social background:The university does not practice unfair discrimination, it [Bristol] does not operate quotas and it will continue to recruit exceptionally able students from all backgrounds through a selection process that is as fair and straightforward as we can make it. Pupils, not schools, make the decisions about which universities to apply to and we are confident that they will continue to want to study at Bristol.
The University highlighted the fact that it is one of the most popular in the country with over 39,000 students for 3,000 places in 2002. In History, English, Economics and Law competition is so fierce that over 30 students can be competing for one place. In English there were 47 places and 1500 applicants of whom 500 had a perfect A-level score of AAA at A2, meaning that many top candidates were rejected.
Eric Thomas also emphasised the work the University was doing to "reach out" beyond the middle-classes. In a BBC interview he stated:
a huge raft of initiatives have been implemented. Things like summer schools in which we bring students to the university during the summer to see it, we have relationships with local schools and further education colleges.
The University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
stated that it is against any kind of discrimination in the admissions process and that the policy of making lower offers to exceptional students from state schools and disadvantaged backgrounds was not in order to satisfy the government or gain funding:
There is no question of the University attempting to widen participation in order to gain Government cash. Bristol agreed its widening participation strategy in 1998 - long before widening participation became part of Government policy. Work in this field is resource-intensive and funding from the Government helps to cover the costs. The University is not motivated by money but by the desire to recruit the best students and by the recognition that if it is to act fairly and avoid missing out on some of the most able people, it must have regard to factors in addition to predicted A-level grades.
Students
Newspapers reported that the admissions controversy created tensions between state and private school pupils at the University. Gus Glover a candidate who lost that years University of Bristol UnionUniversity of Bristol Union
BURST or Bristol University Radio Station is a student-run radio station, based in the University of Bristol broadcast online from the university's student union building, and occasionally via FM with a Restricted Service Licence. The station also holds an AM licence, and plans to begin...
Presidential Election attributed his loss to supporting the admissions policy. However, residents of Wills Hall
Wills Hall
Wills Hall is one of the nine halls of residence in the University of Bristol. Cresting the Stoke Bishop site on the edge of the Bristol Downs, in Parry's Lane, it houses 340 students in two quadrangles...
wrote letters to the newspaper defending the hall against accusations of classism
Classism
Classism is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes and behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper classes at the expense of the lower classes...
.
Head teachers
The National Association of Head TeachersNational Association of Head Teachers
The National Association of Head Teachers is a trade union representing Headteachers, deputy headteachers and assistant headteachers and other school and college leaders in the United Kingdom.-External links:**...
, a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
which represents head teacher
Head teacher
A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
s in the United Kingdom stated that the "HMC and GSA are guilty of gesture politics of the worst kind... They are merely shooting themselves in the foot by pursuing a boycott".
Media commentators
The Daily MailDaily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
and the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
criticised the admissions policies in their headlines. The Daily Mail greeted the story with the headline "Insidious social engineering destroying merit and aspirations" and the Daily Express stated "More students being turned down for being middle class". Journalist Simon Heffer
Simon Heffer
Simon James Heffer is a British journalist, columnist and writer.-Education:Heffer was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.-Career:...
wrote in the Daily Mail that he was pleased that "at last the middle-class are fighting back".
He went on to state the controversy could damage Bristol's academic reputation:
So some of Britain's top schools are going to 'black' Bristol University for the pernicious social engineering policies it has admitted pursuing. Although this news will probably be treated with glee by the tinpot Trotskyists who run Bristol's admissions policy, it can only bode ill for that university. Denied countless high-calibre students who will then go off to adorn rival establishments, Bristol can only decline,
The then-head of the Commission for Racial Equality
Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to tackle racial discrimination and promote racial equality. Its work has been merged into the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.-History:...
Trevor Phillips
Trevor Phillips
Trevor Phillips OBE chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is a former television executive and presenter...
expressed surprise that his daughter had been rejected. In The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
he stated "Though I have no disagreement with greater access, I would have hoped universities and the government would have a slightly more sophisticated policy than simply 'blacklisting' independent schools".
Politicians
Prime Minister Tony BlairTony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
commented on the controversy, stating that university should grant places on the basis of merit rather than class. He added that he wanted to see more working class people in higher education but was forced to backtrack from comments made by Margaret Hodge
Margaret Hodge
Margaret Hodge MBE MP, also known as Lady Hodge by virtue of her husband's knighthood, is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Barking since 1994. She was the first Minister for Children in 2003 and was Minister of State for Culture and Tourism at the Department...
which argued that Universities such as Bristol should be set formal targets for widening access.
Charles Clarke
Charles Clarke
Charles Rodway Clarke is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006.-Early life:...
, then the Education Secretary, described independent school criticisms as "ill-informed brouhaha" and told schools to ignore the boycott. He also stated that it would be inappropriate for government to become too involved in university admissions. The then Shadow Education Secretary Damian Green
Damian Green
Damian Howard Green is a British politician who has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for Ashford since 1997. He came to national prominence after being elected in his constituency. Before standing for parliament, Damian Green was Channel 4's business editor...
accused the government of trying to "fiddle admissions for political ends". Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
MP Phil Willis
Phil Willis
George Philip Willis, Baron Willis of Knaresborough is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, and was Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough from 1997 until retiring at the 2010 general election...
said that "social engineering is coming ahead of merit and the development of talent."
Sir Howard Newby chief-executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England
Higher Education Funding Council for England
The Higher Education Funding Council for England is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the United Kingdom, which has been responsible for the distribution of funding to Universities and Colleges of Higher and Further Education in England since...
(HEFCE), the university funding body argued that Bristol's admissions polices were fair and accused sections of the media of becoming involved in a "moral panic" over positive discrimination.
Resolution
The controversy resulted in applications to Bristol falling for the first time in a decade in the 2004/05 admissions cycle. Application numbers fell by 5% although Bristol downplayed this attributing the decrease to random fluctuations in the level of applications. The boycott ended on 29 April 2003 when the chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ConferenceHeadmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference is an association of the headmasters or headmistressess of 243 leading day and boarding independent schools in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and the Republic of Ireland...
expressed satisfaction with the admissions policy for Bristol. In response to the controversy the University introduced a new, more transparent admissions policy. In 2005, the Independent Schools Council
Independent Schools Council
The Independent Schools Council is a non-profit organisation that represents 1,234 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector...
published a report which cleared Bristol of bias. The report surveyed applications by 20,000 private school pupils and found that in 60 of 300 courses surveyed 98% of private school pupils were offered a place.
Recent developments
In 2009 Bristol rejected giving a "head start" to applicants to disadvantaged backgrounds as part of a scheme proposed by Lord Mandelson.Statistics available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency
Higher Education Statistics Agency
The Higher Education Statistics Agency is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education in the United Kingdom....
published in 2008 show that Bristol's state intake stood at 63.1% a decrease from 65.1% the previous year. Data from 2009/2010 shows Bristol's intake from state schools and colleges to be 60.0% an identical figure to 2003 when the controversy over admissions occurred.
Further reading
- Bibbings,Lois S, Widening Participation and Higher Education, Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 74–91, March 2006,