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1- _________________, but in one area there has long been a remarkable degree of political
consensus – widening participation. Although the total proportion of the UK population going into
higher education has risen over the past 30 years, your chances of going to university are still much
lower if you come from a poorer background than if you come from a better-off family.
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There has been no shortage of initiatives to increase the numbers of university students coming from
lower socio-economic groups. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) gives
more than £350m a year to higher education institutions to support widening participation. And since
2004 Government has supported Aimhigher, a programme designed to raise the aspirations of young
people through activities such as university taster sessions and summer schools.
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2- __________________ David Willetts announced last year that Aimhigher was to close in 2011,
there was concern in the sector over Government’s commitment to widen participation. Nevertheless
Willetts said in his announcement he looked forward to much faster progress. In their subsequent grant
letter to HEFCE Willetts and Vince Cable said: “Social mobility, fair access and widening
participation should be a key strategic objective” and called for “a new and improved approach to
outreach”.
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So far, so good. But with the shift towards students bearing more of the cost of their education, and
university fees set to more than treble next year under the new funding regime, there are concerns that
initiatives to widen participation may suffer a serious setback.
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Dr Liz Marr is director of the Centre for Inclusion and Curriculum (CIC) which has responsibility for
a number of widening participation initiatives at The Open University. She has little doubt that the
prospect of incurring a large debt will discourage the type of student targeted by widening
participation initiatives.
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“3- _____________________ our education system is not giving everyone a fair chance to go to
university, but among the barriers is finance: people from low socio-economic groups find it difficult
to access the necessary funds, not just for fees, but other costs such as living expenses. Another barrier
is perceptual – basically, people from these groups making the assumption that ‘university is not for
the likes of me’,” she says.
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Research suggests that people from low socio-economic groups are among the most debt-adverse, she
adds. “If you are already debt-averse and worrying about whether university is ‘for the likes of me’,
why would you want to incur £27,000 worth of debt for a degree?”
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In theory, low earners should not be deterred by having to take out loans to pay university fees,
because they won’t need to pay anything back until they start earning more than £21,000 a year. But,
says Dr Marr, the perceptual barrier remains. “Even though in reality they may never pay the loan
back, the way it’s being perceived is that being a student means being left with horrendous amounts of
debt.”
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Higher fees are not the only thing worrying advocates of widening participation. Universities across
the country are cutting back on part-time provision and access-type courses because they feel they can
no longer afford them. Routes into higher education delivered by further education colleges are
suffering in the same way. There is also concern that HEFCE’s annual widening participation
allocation is only confirmed until 2011/12.
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The Open University – whose founding mission is to increase access to higher education – is currently
looking for ways to try and make sure widening participation survives and, hopefully, thrives. One
initiative it is likely to expand is OpenPlus, which began life in 2007 as the ‘2plus2’ scheme to
increase the numbers of physics and chemistry graduates. Students without the qualifications for a
university place in these subjects can join the OU and after two years’ preparatory study, transfer to
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one of a number of partner universities (currently there are 14 in England and Wales) to complete their
degree with regular full-time study for a further two years.
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The first students to graduate from OpenPlus this year have performed extremely well and feedback
from their partner universities has been good, according to OpenPlus manager Sarah Brown, who
believes the initiative “has more than proved the concept”. At partner Lancaster University Dr Ian
Saunders, who has been project officer for the scheme there since it began, agrees.
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“We have been able to say to people with no qualifications, you can apply through us to The Open
University, you can do certain courses and if you do well enough, you can get into one of the best
physics departments in the country. We have admitted into Lancaster some very able students via
OpenPlus, and we have significantly widened our variety of student backgrounds.
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Unless we get widening participation right, our educational system will continue to deny poorer
children a fair chance in life, says Dr Marr. “Many of the social problems we face today can be
attributed to educational underachievement. Access to education is so important because it is
transformative; it gives people the opportunity to change their lives.”
Open Eye: Education should be a right, not a privilege
COMPREHENSION ECRITE 2
I.
Read the document and answer these questions.
a. What is the document about? (30 words maximum)
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
b. What is “widening participation”? (40 words maximum)
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
c. Three sentences in the text are incomplete. Indicate using the correct number (1 – 2 – 3) where the
following segments appear in the text.
“There are many reasons why ...” 1 – 2 – 3
“When universities minister ...”
1–2–3
“Education policies come and go...” 1 – 2 – 3
d. Synonym match
1. better-off (l.4)
2. shortage (l.5)
3. fair (l.13)
4. shift (l.16)
5. deterred (l.31)
6. thrives (l.42)
7. deny (l.56)
1
II.
2
a. refuse
b. change
c. dissuaded
d. wealthier
e. lack
f. develops
g. equitable
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4
5
6
7
True or False? Say whether these statements are true or false AND justify by giving the
EXACT line(s) (two lines maximum).
1. The number of people going to university has declined over the past few years.
.......................................................
2. The Aimhigher programme ended in 2011.
F: line(s):...........................................................................................................
3. According to Dr Liz Marr, a degree costs about £27,000.
4. Open University is doing its best to have students from lower socio-economic groups go to universities.
5. Thanks to OpenPlus, it is no longer necessary to attend a university to graduate.
..................................................................................
6. Low-income students will have to pay back their loans if the amount is higher than £21,000.
.............................................
III.
Choose the best response for “the likes of me”l.27
IV.
What is “2plus2”? Use your own words!
.........................................................................................................................................................
V.
What do the following words refer to?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
“he looked forward...(l.12)”:....................................................................................
“she says.” (l.27) :………………………………………………………………….
“they may never pay the loan” (l.33): ……………………………………………..
“they feel they can no longer afford them” (l.37): …………………………………
“they can no longer afford them” (l.38): ……………………………………………
“We have admitted” (l.54): …………………………………………………………
______________________________
PART III. GRAMMAIRE
I.
Posez une question sur l’élément souligné.
a. HEFCE gives £350m to higher education institutions.
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b. The government has supported Aimhigher for 7 years.
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c. OpenPlus began the “2plus2” scheme in 2007.
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d. Students can study physics and chemistry.
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e. Some students graduated at Lancaster University.
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Go on to the next page !
II.
Mettez les verbes conjugués de l’exercice I. à la forme négative.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….
III.
Mettez les verbes entre parenthèses au temps qui convient.
Fall in UK university students (from BBC News)
The number of British students at UK universities _1_ (fall) for the first time in recent history while there
_2_ (be) a growth in the number of students coming from overseas.
The conservatives and others _3_ (claim) the drop in home students _4_ (be) fuelled by “raw deal” given to
part-timers.
The Westminster government _5_ (want) more than half of young people to go on to higher education. The
number of UK students at UK universities _6_ (fall) from 1.97 million in 2007 to 1.96 million last year.
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said:” it _ 7_ (be) a real worry that the number of part-time students
applying to university _8_ (drop). Part-time study _9_ (be) key for students not entering higher education
through a more traditional route and _10_ (be) vital to the success of the widening participation agenda.”
1. fall
2. be
3. claim
4. be
5. want
6. fall
7. be
8. drop
9. be
10. be
IV.
Mettez les phrases suivantes à la forme passive en commençant avec les mots soulignés.
a. Lancaster University accepted two students.
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b. Education gives people the opportunity to change their lives.
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