About HE Funding and Access
Scroll down for CUSU's current access/funding-related policy, The Access Blog and Access Library.
Why Access?
Access is one of the most important issues currently facing universities like Cambridge, and for good reason. With the changing fee system, the changing of EMA and with Aimhigher ending, widening participation to make universities more accessible is absolutely central to ongoing government debates on the funding and organisation of Higher Education (HE) Institutions in the UK.
But how does Cambridge fit into this national picture? Cambridge is one of the top universities in the world, renowned for its research and teaching. Yet this reputation is mired by ideas that Cambridge only exists for an elite - academically, socially and financially - and is beyond the reach of everyone but a specific prototype. The media and politicians are often adding to this reputation.
Fair and transparent admissions, that are open to the brightest students, irrespective of background, therefore forms the core of an issue that many staff and students of the University feel very strongly about – with good reason. Cambridge University is the sum of its parts and diversity within the student body is arguably a self-evident good.
Cambridge has made a lot of progress over the last ten years in becoming more representative of the population as a whole, but there is still a lot of work to do. To an extent, the make-up of the student body in Cambridge reflects the demography of those that make applications. So for change to occur, applications and acceptances from students who are currently under represented need to increase. One of the most effective ways of encouraging this has been for potential applicants to meet current students through a variety of initiatives involving trips into schools, and trips to Cambridge itself.
Cambridge has what is essentially a big image problem when it comes to supporting and encouraging students from under-represented backgrounds. Despite the significant amount of outreach undertaken by the University, the colleges and students, the stereotypes and myths surrounding Cambridge and the "type" of student that comes here persist.
In 2000 Cambridge students voted in a referendum to create the CUSU Access Officer to try and address some of these problems and to organise student initiatives from within the Student's Union. CUSU is unique as we are the only Student Union in the country that has a full-time sabbatical Access Officer as well as other part-time officers making up the CUSU Access and Funding Team. These are supported by JCR Access Officers who run schemes and help with CUSU schemes within colleges.
Broadly speaking, the intention of CUSU Access is to dispel myths about Cambridge by giving free, factual information, to raise aspirations, and to encourage applications from those that are currently underrepresented at this university. The premises of the campaigns are that current students (many of whom may have had similar reservations themselves) are best placed to tell potential students, in a realistic and honest way, about their experiences at Cambridge, and what it is actually like.
Misinformation is often unknowingly propagated in schools and colleges, and by parents/teachers, and it is CUSU's belief that students have the most convincing, as well as accurate, voice when it comes to talking about Cambridge.
The emphasis on a lot of the work done by the University is increasing applications to Cambridge, however the more general benefits of widening participation across the sector and raising aspiration amongst young people are equally important. As you will see later in this pack, a lot of the work done by the faculties is not aimed at admissions, but at making the University a more open and welcoming place to the local community and to society as a whole. This work all has an indirect effect on other efforts to increase applications from under represented groups.
Fundamental problems with the education system in the UK serve to complicate university admissions. Inequalities in teaching and resource provision at primary and secondary school form the root of the problem which starts long before students apply to university. Educational background plays a crucial part in how students make their decisions about university generally. University admissions can only serve as a corrective to inequalities in earlier educational experiences to a degree; they cannot solve them.
Access is a very broad and general term, one that is used often without much thought or consideration given its current political capital, but also one that encompasses lofty ideals. It is undoubtedly the issue facing the Higher Education sector in this country, especially with a new tuition fees system coming into place in 2012, and it raises fundamental questions for Cambridge as a leading academic institution.