THE head teacher of a leading private school has launched an outspoken attack on the way Scottish universities select their students.
Dr Ken Greig, rector of Hutchesons’ Grammar School, in Glasgow, said procedures were unaccountable, unfair and varied widely among institutions. He warned that course cuts, such as those under consideration at Glasgow University, would make the selection process more difficult in future.
He is urging institutions to work with state and private schools to develop a new Scottish university applications process. In a letter to The Herald, Dr Greig said: “The news that Glasgow University is considering cuts is very worrying.
“We may end up with a higher education sector in Scotland which has adapted to survive along purely commercial lines, only running courses which are popular. To some extent, this has already begun to happen. In the last few years it has become steadily more difficult to gain places on some undergraduate courses at the major Scottish universities.”
Dr Greig, a member of the universities committee of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference, which represents private school leaders, said the current UK-wide process, run by university admissions body Ucas, was largely to blame.
He believes the major problem is the use of standardised Ucas applications forms, which he said had not been significantly changed since 1961.
“The situation would be just about bearable if the university admissions procedure ... was open, accountable and fair, but it is not. It is not even the same between different faculties in the same university,” he said.
“The fact is, we have no way of knowing what goes through the minds of admissions tutors as they sort through the piles of application forms ... there seems to be a different set of criteria for every course in every university.
“I call on (Scottish universities) to break free of the ridiculous constraints of a UK-wide applications process that has grown too big and too anonymous. ”
Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, which represents university principals, urged the Scottish Government to expand places to ease competition. “The diversity in courses and institutions on offer means admissions criteria have to be decided by each individual university, so it’s never going to be possible, nor desirable, to get uniformity across the sector,” he said. “The idea of a Scottish-only admissions system is a non-starter.
“There are over 20,000 students from the rest of the UK at Scottish universities. Judging Scottish and rest-of-UK students differently using two entirely different admissions systems would only serve to add further confusion and less consistency for everyone.
“However, demand for places continues to far outstrip supply, and this can only exacerbate the frustrations felt by students who pour so much ambition and expectation into every application. It is vital that, following the election, the Scottish Government acts to put the funding in place to secure the number of fully-funded places available to students next year.”
Eileen Prior, executive director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said: “Many parents don’t have a full understanding of the way the system works and they would be dismayed if this is a true picture.
“As the competition for places in higher education becomes more difficult, this may well become an issue, and parents would welcome an open discussion on the process and how it can be made more equitable and transparent.”
However, Ken Cunningham, general secretary of School Leaders’ Scotland, which represents secondary head teachers, said: “One of the advantages is that the current system is UK-wide, and going down a Scottish solution may actually be detrimental.”
