Universities that fail to
recruit more students from poor backgrounds should be heavily fined,
according to the man soon to have responsibility for social accessibility in education.
Professor Les Ebdon, the government's preferred candidate as
Director of Fair Access, told MPs he was prepared to strip universities of their right to charge top fees of up to £9,000 from 2012. Those charging more than £6,000 have to sign an agreement with the watchdog.
At a pre-appointment hearing, Prof Ebdon told the House of
Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee that refusing
to sign a university's access agreement was a "significant sanction" and
one that he was prepared to use if necessary.
These agreements are be reviewed
and approved by the Office For Fair Access (Offa) each year, with
institutions that fail to meet their agreed targets on recruitment and
retention facing fines or losing the right to charge higher fees.
"At the moment, there are two sanctions", said Prof Ebdon, who is currently the vice-chancellor of
Bedfordshire University and chair of the Million+ think tank. "One is a £500,000
fine, which is hardly a sanction at all, and the other is to refuse to
sign an access agreement, and that is a significant sanction and that is
clearly the sanction that one uses," said Prof Ebdon.
Posted by Michael Chapman