Russell Group letter to students in final years of schooling

13 January 2021

The Chief Executive of the Russell Group, Dr Tim Bradshaw, has today (13 January 2021) written a letter to students in their final years of schooling who may be be worried about the impact of measures to stop the spread of Covid-19, including school closures and the cancelling of exams, on their education and future opportunities.

The letter, covered in the i newspaper this morning, reassures students across all four nations of the UK that whatever the assessment system in 2021, Russell Group universities will be as fair and flexible as possible to ensure they are not disadvantaged in their university applications.

Last summer there was a significant increase in the number of students taking up a place at higher-tariff universities, such as those in the Russell Group. This included those from the most underrepresented areas and groups.

The full letter is below.

This is a hugely challenging time, and we know that many students in their final years of schooling will be worried about the impact of measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 on their education and future opportunities, including school closures and the cancelling of exams.

We firmly believe that everyone who has the drive and determination to study at university should have the opportunity do so, and we welcome the decision by UCAS to extend the January deadline for undergraduate applications to 29 January 2021. Hopefully, this will allow all students considering applying in 2021 to do so.

Details of the system of teacher assessed grades, which will replace summer examinations in England, are still being finalised by Ofqual and the Government, but these assessments will carry the same weight as the exams they replace and so we encourage students to continue working hard to get the best results they can. In the meantime, we want to reassure students across all four nations of the UK that whatever the assessment system in 2021, Russell Group universities will be as fair and flexible as possible to ensure they are not disadvantaged in their applications.

Last summer we saw a significant increase in the number of students taking up a place at higher-tariff universities, such as those in the Russell Group. This included those from the most underrepresented areas and groups and reflects our members’ determination to ensure applicants were not unfairly affected by the challenging circumstances around those assessments. Our universities will take forward a similar approach this year.

We are also mindful of the additional academic and welfare support that many students starting university in 2021 may need. This year our universities invested significantly to increase the support available to students including by offering key services online such as counselling, welfare advice, and specialist study skills. We will continue to look closely at the likely needs of students starting in 2021 to ensure the necessary support is also available for this cohort.

While these are not circumstances that anyone would choose, this year the Government and devolved administrations have more time to plan ahead with schools, exam regulators and universities to ensure a smooth assessment and university admissions process that students can be confident in. We hope to see students take forward their applications to Russell Group universities in 2021 so that as many as possible can benefit from the skills and knowledge a world-class university education provides.

Dr Tim Bradshaw
Chief Executive
The Russell Group of Universities

Notes

• There was a 22 percent increase in the number of students from the most underrepresented communities placed at high-tariff universities in 2020, according to analysis published by OfS (3 November 2020).
• Placed applicants at higher tariff universities went from 152,990 at the same time in the cycle in 2019 to 171,470 in 2020, an increase of 12%, according to analysis published by UCAS (24 September 2020).
• According to UCAS, record 28,030 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds (POLAR4 quintile 1) across the UK were accepted into university in 2020 as of 10 September 2020 – up 8% on the equivalent point in 2019 (24 September 2020).