Academic Standards Put At Risk By 'Meddling'

The vice-chancellor of Cambridge has said academic standards were being put at risk by "meddling", saying that universities existed to educate and lead research, not promote social justice.

At a Universities UK conference in Cambridge the former Yale Professor said: "As institutions charged with education, research and training, our purpose is not to be construed as that of handmaidens of industry, implementors of the skills agenda, or indeed engines for promoting social justice.

"Responsive to and helping shape the national policy context, we need the independence and autonomy to chart our individual institutional courses, and to experiment."

Prof Richard complained that universities in the UK were under-funded and risked losing their competitive advantage to overseas rivals.

Universities Secretary John Denham insisted the Westminster government is not going to start meddling in the way universities choose students.

He said fair access to universities is vital: "We can't afford to waste the talents of young people in this country and widening participation to higher education in general, and fair access to the most competitive selective universities, is crucial.

"We work with universities in many ways to make the case for widening participation and also to encourage universities to work with schools as they do to get students to apply to universities

"What we don't do is tell individual universities how to run their admissions policies. Our universities' strength depends on their autonomy and there is a line we don't cross," he added

Mr Denham said ministers were not forcing universities to take poor students: "So we will argue passionately that we are not making the best use of too many people who are very able, we want to see change in schools and universities but we are not going to start meddling, interfering in how they run their admissions procedures."

In separate comments made to the Times, Prof Richard said Cambridge University is committed to recruiting the best students regardless of background.

(GK/JM)