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How should universities select students?

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  • Jake Anders

    (UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, University College London)

Abstract

British universities select the students to whom they offer places, generally drawing on the following pieces of information: a 'personal statement', prior attainment, predicted grades, and contextual information about the applicant. A smaller group of institutions also use information based on aptitude tests and interviews. However, all such sources of information have the potential to be biased, including by factors such as gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. This raises the question of which of these sources of information universities should prioritise, and which they should use at all.Britain is almost unique in using predicted grades, as discussed in briefing note 7 (Wyness, 2020), but even beyond this different countries approaches differ substantially, for example the US relies far more extensively on aptitude testing than is the case in the UK, partly due to its lack of national terminal examinations. In this briefing note, we assess the evidence on the strengths and weaknesses of using these sources of information about students' suitability for different higher education courses.

Suggested Citation

  • Jake Anders, 2020. "How should universities select students?," CEPEO Briefing Note Series 8, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Nov 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucl:cepeob:8
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    File URL: https://repec-cepeo.ucl.ac.uk/cepeob/cepeobn8.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2020
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jake Anders & Catherine Dilnot & Lindsey Macmillan & Gill Wyness, 2020. "Grade Expectations: How well can we predict future grades based on past performance?," CEPEO Working Paper Series 20-14, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Aug 2020.
    2. Gill Wyness, 2020. "Higher education applications and admissions," CEPEO Briefing Note Series 7, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Aug 2020.
    3. Geraint Johnes & Robert McNabb, 2004. "Never Give up on the Good Times: Student Attrition in the UK," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 66(1), pages 23-47, February.
    4. Jeremy Smith & Robin Naylor, 2001. "Determinants of Degree Performance in UK Universities: A Statistical Analysis of the 1993 Student Cohort," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 63(1), pages 29-60, February.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Łuczywek, Beata & Lippold, Kye & Betts, Julian & Berman, Eli, 2024. "Boosting Take-Up of the Expanded Child Tax Credit through School-Based Outreach," University of California at San Diego, Economics Working Paper Series qt1dh1n103, Department of Economics, UC San Diego.
    3. Bassier, Ihsaan & Budlender, Joshua & Zizzamia, Rocco & Leibbrandt, Murray & Ranchhod, Vimal, 2021. "Locked down and locked out: Repurposing social assistance as emergency relief to informal workers," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    4. Ndeye Maty PAYE, 2021. "Digital Teaching/Learning In Covid 19 Time At The University Of The Gambia," Annals of the University of Craiova, Series Psychology, Pedagogy, Teacher Training Department, University of Craiova, vol. 43(1), pages 65-74, June.
    5. Bessler, Wolfgang & Vendrasco, Marco, 2022. "Short-selling restrictions and financial stability in Europe: Evidence from the Covid-19 crisis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    university admissions; prior attainment; aptitude test; contextual admissions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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