By Roberta Geraci
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has announced plans to move away from a points based system currently used by pupils applying to University, following consultation with Schools and Universities.
Together with all the recent changes to Higher Education that have occurred over the last year, the Government show no signs of slowing down and Universities Minister David Willetts highlighted the UCAS points system as in need of reform. Last year he stated the existing system sent out a “very bad message to young people” because it currently ranked all A-levels as the same. Under the current system an A*, or any other grade, is worth the same number of points across all subjects. The proposed change would be based on Universities gaining more freedom to ask students for specific qualifications and grades when offering places.
BBC News reported that in total, 63.5% of all of those who responded were in favour of dropping the current tariff system, with only 16.1% of respondents against the proposal.
The UCAS report stated, “It was widely felt that qualification and grade-based entry requirements and offers are clearer and more transparent for learners and offer those higher education providers who actively select applicants for their courses greater control over admissions.”
Despite the majority of respondents receiving the change positively, certain criticisms were raised that the move could see academic qualifications receiving precedence over vocational ones. According to the Telegraph, the change may “lead to some academic subjects such as maths, science and foreign languages being given higher ratings than more vocational qualifications.”
The UCAS report acknowledged these concerns stating, qualification and grade-based offers “could lead to a narrowing of the pre-university curriculum, as schools and colleges prioritised the delivery of those qualifications and subjects that most commonly featured in higher education requirements”.
Another potential effect of the change, may be that students are required to choose or at least more seriously consider, their desired University course and location prior to selecting A-levels, particularly if there is much variation between Universities for the same course. This could potentially place younger people (typically aged 15/16) under more pressure when choosing A-levels.
Despite these concerns UCAS seem likely to press ahead with the changes but no date has been set for them to be enforced. According to the report “The UCAS board will make a decision on the tariff in September and we continue to work with institutions to understand how the recommendations we have put forward would impact them in the future.”
Given the recent changes and proposals for the future, it is clear that the Higher Education system will likely see many more reforms under the coalition government.