News / Education
Bristol Uni lowers entry grades for disadvantaged local pupils
Students at Bristol schools could soon secure a place at the University of Bristol for their potential rather than academic grades in a novel new initiative.
Head teachers from local schools will each select five “high potential” students to be put forward for the Bristol Scholars scheme on the basis of their progress and promise.
Selected students will be granted a reduced, guaranteed offer for the course they wish to study, as well as receiving pastoral care and a bursary to aid financial support.
This will allow students who have faced domestic disadvantage such as being the first of their family to go to university, receive free school meals, live in care or are a young carer themselves, to gain opportunities to which they may not otherwise have had access.
The initiative was launched at St Bede’s School in Lawrence Weston by secretary of state for education Justine Greening, alongside mayor Marvin Rees and professor Hugh Brady, vice-chancellor and president of the University of Bristol.
Greening said: “It really does give them an overall package of support that can help make sure there are as few barriers as possible for them to fulfil their potential.
“And I think it’s great for Bristol. It’s great that Bristol University is really embedding itself into local schools.”
Rees added: “The new Bristol Scholars scheme is a positive step in a better direction. I hope it will create fresh opportunities and open doors to some of our more disadvantaged students, helping them to realise their full potential.”
All 25 secondary schools in the city are eligible for the scheme, with 11 taking part in 2017.
There is also a lot of research due to go into the project and it is hoped that the initiative will become a pilot scheme for other universities across the UK in the future.
Read more: Plan to protect Bristol’s most vulnerable
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