Major universities warn 'soft' A-level students

Press article from The Daily Telegraph 7 January 2008

Major universities warn 'soft' A-level students

Institutions including Cambridge and the London School of Economics have drawn up lists of subjects they say are not academically rigorous enough.

They give warning that candidates taking more than one A-level in areas such as media studies, dance, sports studies and travel and tourism are unlikely to be given a place.

Admissions tutors insist that the courses – which have undergone a huge expansion in state schools in recent years – often fail to prepare sixth-formers for the academic demands of university.

The disclosure will alarm ministers, who want to increase the number of students from state school going to the top universities.

It may also undermine the Government’s drive to promote new–style diplomas in subjects such as hair and beauty, media or hospitality, which are being introduced as an alternative to GCSE’s and A-levels.

It is feared that concerns over so-called ‘soft’ A-levels may be extended to the Government’s flagship diplomas.

One admissions tutor at a top university said yesterday: “These are vocational qualifications, and whilst good vocational qualifications are a badly needed part of the nation’s qualification mix at 14 to 19, they do not qualify people to pursue purely academic programmes at academically selective universities.”