This has been proposed due to the previous pressures placed upon school officials to increase the amount of their students who attended these Universities, which in turn led to the neglect of other non-Russell group/Oxbridge institutions.
‘The Russell Group’ was founded by 17 British research universities and they define themselves as “24 leading UK universities which are committed to maintaining the very best research”. These universities include Newcastle, Cambridge and Glasgow.
Hope to reduce pressures on school officials working in underprivileged areas
The creation of this exclusive group has led some university leaders to believe that this has resulted in parents and schools discouraging students from attending other universities in favour of Russell group institutions.
Non-Russell Group universities such as Northumbria, Nottingham Trent and Bath all offer high quality forms of education with often more specialised courses that are perceived to be more practical for after university life.
However, this differing form of practical education in comparison to Russell groups is argued to not be made as clear of an option to students due to their exclusion from the exclusive coalition of universities.
The new accountability measures also hope to reduce the pressures on school officials working in underprivileged areas at colleges and sixth forms around the UK.
This is due to schools in poorer areas being put at an inescapable disadvantage of having lower percentage rates of students attending Russell Group universities, meaning that it was much more difficult for these schools to meet the required Russell group quota.
UK Parliament released a report in 2022 stating that “Schools with the most disadvantaged intake are ten times more likely to have a class-worth of severely absent pupils”.
The school’s performance table will still feature the percentages of students who have joined “top third higher education institutions”, whilst it also includes which of those institutions are Russell Group universities.
