Unlocking potential

Is Newcastle dumbing down by offering lower A-Level entrance standards to some state school pupils? No, says James Wright.

It is interesting to be attacked one Friday by the deputy prime minister for "elitism" and the next by the Daily Mail for "dumbing-down". Perhaps that is what equality of opportunity means.

In the wake of Tyneside schoolgirl Laura Spence's rejection by Oxford University, John Prescott criticised universities in the Northeast for not accepting more students from state schools. Fortunately, we were able to defend ourselves against Mr Prescott because we had offered Laura a place to study medicine.

The charge of "dumbing down" from the Mail is one we also reject. It is based on our decision to widen our intake by motivating young people in the Northeast who come from families or schools where there is no tradition of going to university. The charge is that we plan to lower the A-level entry grades we require for some of these pupils - hence "dumbing down".

We have 70 students attending our year 13 summer school this year, some of whom have told us that they would not have applied to university but for our Partners Programme - of which the summer school is a part. The programme, which involves 40 schools and six further education colleges on Tyneside and in Northumberland, includes student shadowing, taster days, a sixth-form conference, talks by university staff, and advice on filling in university application forms. Eligible students are filtered by a range of criteria. We look at the postcodes of their schools and homes - we are seeking those in areas that currently send pupils on to higher education - as well as their classroom records.

With the encouragement they have already had, we expect many of the 70 to achieve the standard entry grades for the course they want to take at university. Nevertheless, we have recognised the extra work of students on the programme by accrediting its successful completion with six or eight A-level points that can be added to those gained when students actually sit A levels. The summer schools involve 40 hours of contact time and 50 hours of directed study time, which is equivalent to one undergraduate module. Students who do well are demonstrating that they have the potential to gain a good degree and therefore deserve the chance.

One of the principal barriers to economic regeneration in the Northeast is the low participation rate in higher education. Unless more young people in our region are educated to degree level and beyond, how can we hope to attract inward investment from employers providing quality jobs and break the cycle of high unemployment, poor wages, and low aspirations in successive generations?

The Partners Programme is hardly radical in its concepts: accepting students with alternative entry qualifications is, of course, practised by all universities. In a typical big civic university, between 10 and 20 per cent of entrants come with qualifications other than A levels.

And in many ways, our programme has already been successful even though it has not yet run for a full academic year. Strong candidates have emerged, who have shown a great deal of commitment. Furthermore, the programme has allowed us to develop links with our 46 partners - which make up most of the state schools and colleges in Tyneside and Northumberland.

We believe in opportunity for everyone, both the fortunate and less fortunate. Education is about people and their futures. Politicians who forget that in their sloganising, no matter what party they belong to, diminish only themselves.

James Wright is vice-chancellorat Newcastle University.

* Is Newcastle "dumbing down"by offering alternative entrystandards to selected applicantsfrom the Northeast? Email us on soapbox@thes.co.uk