Should all Universities raise their entry requirements?

OP

How do you propose to define a relevant subject for degree subjects that aren't offered at A level?

Or is it up to the university concerned (as it is at the moment) to decide which subjects are good predictors of success?

And if so how come you trust universities to identify which subjects are important but want to take away their autonomy to determine the level of achievement required to predict success?

I guess it depends on the course, as I was explaining before, to study Maths at University Level it would be ridiculous to put someone on a Maths Degree that cannot do a Maths A Level. I'm unsure about what and how you would study for something like Archeology so I would assume something to do with History because it would require looking at details of the past and being able to justify certain ideas about what you're looking at. I don't study Archeology so I could be wrong, but the A Level requirements should be relevant to the subject, i.e Philosophy/History etc for essay based courses or Maths/Sciences for more Science based subjects. One University might have a Philosophy course that requires one or two Maths modules so they should ask for subjects that show ability for essay writing and maths whereas a Uni that has no maths modules wouldn't require the maths at all

I do think it should be up to the Universities, however it seems there are so many Universities that will accept people who are not in a position to be studying a degree. My point isn't necessarily 'You must study this subject to get onto this degree', my point is more about students showing their capability for a certain area of study by either getting a high grade in their specific area or getting a high grade in an area that has very similar qualities.

Reply 21

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by JW22

I guess it depends on the course, as I was explaining before, to study Maths at University Level it would be ridiculous to put someone on a Maths Degree that cannot do a Maths A Level. I'm unsure about what and how you would study for something like Archeology so I would assume something to do with History because it would require looking at details of the past and being able to justify certain ideas about what you're looking at. I don't study Archeology so I could be wrong, but the A Level requirements should be relevant to the subject, i.e Philosophy/History etc for essay based courses or Maths/Sciences for more Science based subjects. One University might have a Philosophy course that requires one or two Maths modules so they should ask for subjects that show ability for essay writing and maths whereas a Uni that has no maths modules wouldn't require the maths at all

I do think it should be up to the Universities, however it seems there are so many Universities that will accept people who are not in a position to be studying a degree. My point isn't necessarily 'You must study this subject to get onto this degree', my point is more about students showing their capability for a certain area of study by either getting a high grade in their specific area or getting a high grade in an area that has very similar qualities.

Universities don't get funding for students who drop out.
Universities recruiting lots of students who fail to progress get hammered in the continuation rates in the league tables.
Universities recruiting lots of students who fail to complete their course or who achieve lower degree classifications get hammered in the league tables.
Universities recruiting students who are unlikely to succeed know they're likely to end up with poor NSS results which mean they get hammered in the league tables.
Universities who have poor performance in terms of completion, progression and learning gain are not going to do well in QAA HERs (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/higher-education-review )
Universities who don't have the right level of approval on the HER will not be able to increase their fees in line with inflation.
Universities who don't support students to do well and not drop out are likely to fail to get an Access Agreement (https://www.offa.org.uk/access-agreements/ ) which will mean they'll only be able to charge £6k in fees to UK students.

There is NO incentive at the moment for a university to recruit a student that they don't believe shows potential to succeed.
Why do you believe that your understanding of how A levels prepare students for various degrees is superior to the admissions staff and academics who set entry levels?

Reply 22

username1148663

21

Uni place numbers in courses with low prospects of jobs in that field should be cut simple as that.

Courses with high prospects should be expanded

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