Unthinkable? Ditching bog-standard university offers

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/06/bog-standard-university-offers

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"We recognise talent when we see it." It's a common presumption, which often ends up identifying promise in those who look, sound and think like the talent-spotter. Not so long ago, Oxford would set its own entrance test, and waft through youngsters whom the dons felt measured up on the back of the lowliest A-level pass, as if public exams had nothing to tell the real experts.

On Friday authoritative new research, sponsored by the Department for Education itself, confirmed not only that GCSE scores matter, but also that the type of school a student attends is closely connected to their hopes of getting into university, sticking it out, and emerging with a decent degree. None of this will surprise an education secretary who has complained of the "preposterous" concentration of Etonians at the top of British public life.

But the real kicker in the analysis is that once allowance is made for the flattering effect of selective schooling on exam results, the products of elite institutions are actually more likely to drop out of college or fail to make the grade in finals. It follows that if universities want the best students, then they ought to give lower offers to kids who come through in GCSE against less-flattering odds in comprehensives.

Michael Gove has talked about social mobility. Here's a practical suggestion for doing something about it, while raising university standards too. He didn't rush to embrace it on Friday, but he should give it some serious thought.