Alan Milburn calls for more university places to be awarded to young people from poor backgrounds (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Alan Milburn calls for more university places to be awarded to young people from poor backgrounds

5:48pm Thursday 18th October 2012 in News By Robert Merrick, Parliamentary Correspondent

ALAN Milburn today demanded a radical overhaul of the way top universities choose their students, warning a "huge untapped potential" in the North-East was being ignored.

In his latest report as a government adviser, the former Darlington MP called for more places to be offered to young people from struggling backgrounds - even if their A-levels results were inferior.

Mr Milburn cited research which found state-school students - provided they gained a place - were more likely to achieve a top degree than someone, with identical results, from a fee-paying school.

And he published alarming new figures revealing the North-East has experienced the second biggest plunge in the number of people applying to university, since maximum annual fees were hiked to £9,000.

That number fell by 11.7 per cent this autumn - from 21,396 to 18,899. The only region that experienced a bigger decline was the South West (down 12.1%).

Yet the North-East already sends the smallest proportion of its young people to university (24 per cent), compared with London (36.4 per cent) and South-East (33.3 per cent).

Mr Milburn also demanded the effective restoration of the axed education maintenance allowance (EMA) - grants that encouraged poorer teenagers to stay at school - describing its abolition as a "very bad mistake".

Launching his report, the ex-Cabinet minister told The Northern Echo: "There is a huge, untapped potential in North-East schools - and universities need to do more to find it.

"The North-East would be one of the regions that would benefit most by universities focusing as much on the potential of students as on their A-level results."

On the application figures, he added: "It worries me that the North-East has seen one of the biggest falls in the number of applications to universities. It must be something to do with tuition fees and the fears of less well-off families."

The study - entitled 'How Higher Education Can Advance Social Mobility' - recommended:

• Guaranteed interviews for bright pupils from poorer backgrounds, including anyone who successfully completed a preparation course, such as a summer school.
• All universities should use "contextual data" - taking into account a student's background - when deciding who to accept.
• Millions spent on little-known bursaries and fee waivers for poorer students be switched to EMA-style financial help to ensure those students stayed in school.
• All institutions should offer a foundation year programme - similar to Durham University's "wildly successful" scheme - so less advantaged youngsters have a chance to catch up with their peers.

Mr Milburn added: "Students should not be admitted according to how well they did at school, but how well they are likely to do at university. It's not a reward for achievement - but a reward for potential to achieve."

In response, universities minister David Willetts said some institutions already offered places to poorer students with lower results, but insisted A-level results would remain a "crucial" element.