School Leaders let the students down

Headteachers are right, of course, in saying that the government should fund additional places for every student who has the ability and wants to enter higher education, but the idea that "a lot of people applying for places who have not considered it before" is a "problem" is an utter disgrace.

School leaders should recognise their role is to give every child the best chance in life, not to reinforce the already stark disadvantages that children face right from the start of their education. Admission systems, such as the University of Edinburgh's, which recognise that some people simply don't have the same opportunities in life, should be congratulated, not attacked.

The statistics speak for themselves – those students who reach university from state schools out-perform their private school counterparts in higher education. We should not be offering places to students on the basis of how much their parents can pay, but on the basis of their academic potential. That cannot simply be measured by the grades achieved at higher level, but must take account of the individuals' circumstances. Few would argue that achieving top grades from one of the best private schools in the country is as hard as achieving them from a comprehensive school where hardly anyone gets to university.

The direct attacks on progressive admission systems to universities such as Edinburgh, which recognise the true potential of applicants, aren't something new. We are used to hearing it from those with no interest in every child having a fair chance in life, but Ken Cunningham and School Leaders Scotland should be ashamed of themselves. They should be standing up for every child not just the elite few.

Thomas Graham, President, Edinburgh University Students' Association