There’s a huge class divide at Leeds, and it needs to be addressed

Universities should be a place where ideas, perspectives and peoples experiences clash


In September, Theresa May delivered a speech in which she outlined her vision for using the education system to create a “truly meritocratic Britain.” She summed up this vision in a quote:

“I want Britain to be a place where advantage is based on merit not privilege; where it’s your talent and hard work that matter, not where you were born, who your parents are or what your accent sounds like.”

The prime minister paints a pretty picture of where 21st century Britain should be.

However the reality at British universities is so far removed from this, it makes pronouncements like these sound positively utopian. The truth is that far from being drivers of social mobility, British universities are models of entrenched middle-class dominance.

Statistics recently released by The Tab shine a light on just how severe the problem is. A HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) assessment found that at Leeds University, only 22.5 per cent of students come from a working class background. This makes Leeds the 26th lowest in the country, meaning that it isn’t even among the worst offenders.

Despite these shameful figures, Leeds was still crowned “University of the Year” in recognition of, among other things of good “student experience, high entry standards, services and facilities, and graduate prospects.” There are no prizes dished out for efforts to widen access to education which is why, as a Sutton Trust report found in 2014, students from wealthy backgrounds are 10 times more likely to receive a place at university than those from poorer backgrounds.

In fairness, Leeds does run admissions schemes like Access to Leeds which offer students undergraduate study at a subsidised cost. But in order to be eligible, applicants have to meet a bunch of arbitrary criteria that serve to exclude many candidates from poorer backgrounds. Most students I’d spoken to hadn’t even heard of the scheme.

“It came to my attention only after it was too late that Access to Leeds existed which would greatly have helped me, and the high grade boundaries definitely perturbed me” says one Leeds fresher. “So if they advertised what help was available in the application process better I think it would be more encouraging.”

It’s hardly surprising that most universities have abdicated from their responsibility to promote social inclusion. Successive Labour and Tory governments have pushed the idea that they should operate like businesses by treating their students like consumers. When the government allowed universities to treble tuition fees they incentivised the most elite institutions to only try and attract the wealthiest students who could afford to pay. Businesses exist to make a profit after all.

The government can pay lip service to ideas like meritocracy but ultimately it will be judged on its deeds alone. Cutting maintenance grants for the country’s poorest students sends a very clear message that this government is not serious about bridging the class divide through education.

Admittedly, I’m not working class and on some level that means I’m not qualified to even make this argument. But at the same time, I recognise that the lack of diversity in universities is a problem for all of us. Inequality blights us all. Cultural segregation at university blights us all. As a society, we lose something when higher education becomes the preserve of the privileged.

Universities should be a place where ideas, perspectives and peoples’ experiences clash. If this doesn’t happen, and inequality persists, we risk living increasingly separate lives. Universities will cease to be places where people from different walks of life encounter one another. Of course, the affluent will continue to send their kids Russell Group Universities, but the hollowing out of our universities makes it impossible to cultivate the kind of solidarity or community spirit that modern democracies depend on. You only need to look at the events of this past year to see how fractured nations become as a consequence of rampant inequality.