Advising the Advisers

One of our most quoted research findings is the statistic that half of all state school teachers would never advise their brightest students to apply to Oxford and Cambridge. Of course, Oxbridge isn’t everything, and some of the best courses are to be found elsewhere; but this startling finding does shed interesting light on some widely-held attitudes to these esteemed institutions – and the considerable challenges we face in widening access to them.

In many ways, the‎ cynicism of state school teachers is understandable. Hard pressed teachers can’t be expected to know the ins and outs of every university option.  They see many newspaper headlines bemoaning the under-representation of poorer students. Given limited time, their efforts are probably more likely go to those students who are struggling rather than those who are doing well (but with support could do brilliantly). And stereotypes run deep: most of the teachers polled also considerably under-estimated the proportion of state school students at Oxbridge and believed it was more expensive to study at these institutions than at other universities (it is not – if anything, the financial support it more generous).

That’s why, since the very beginning of the Trust, we have been running university summer schools at leading universities to dispel students’ misconceptions about top universities and to support them to make strong applications‎. The Cambridge summer school is now our largest – with over 500 places – but the programme goes beyond Oxbridge to nine other top universities in England and Scotland, offering 2,000 places in total.

But working with students is not enough: the cascade effect‎ from engaging teachers can multiply the impact of any intervention. So, with funding from HSBC, the Trust will be running its largest ever teacher summer school programme this year. In partnership with eight universities we will offer 370 spaces to teachers from schools serving challenging communities and with low levels of progression to higher education.   If each of those teachers were to make a difference to just a handful of students every year, the reach of the programme – in relation to the number of places available at leading universities – would be considerable.

The aims of the programme are straightforward and inter-related: to extend the reach of the Trust’s student summer schools; to break down misconceptions of leading universities and equip teachers to offer informed education and careers advice; to support teachers to provide high quality enrichment to academically able students; and to provide teachers with a forum within which they can explore their own subject interests and new research.  All expenses are met and, in some cases, cover costs can be met too, so costs should not be a barrier to participation.

Applications for some of the teacher courses are open now and others will follow soon. The biggest challenge is getting the right teachers in the right schools.  We really want to hear from teachers who are in a position to influence their students’ higher education decisions and are from schools and colleges which haven’t got a history of either taking part in the Sutton Trust student summer schools or sending large numbers of students on to elite universities.

It’s a hard ask to expect teachers to spend time away from home at the end of a busy year. ‎ But a few days – helped along by the hospitality of the universities as hosts – can make a real difference to the trajectory of young people. The feedback from last year suggests that it is time well spent.   Every single teacher who took part in the 2014 programme said they would now recommend a Sutton Trust summer school to their sixth formers.  If that message was spread further, we’d make huge inroads in addressing one of the biggest barriers to fair access to top universities: that poorer students don’t apply in the first place.