Q. Why don’t more students who were eligible for free school meals go on to study in higher education?
A. According to the Office for National Statistics, there are on average 75,347 FSM students each year aged 16. The same data, however, show that FSM students are half as likely to secure five good GCSE grades (including Mathematics and English) as their non-FSM counterparts.
Attainment at Key Stage 4 (GCSE)
| Average 2007-09 | |
| Total number of students | 631,686 |
| Total number securing 5+ grades A*-C inc Maths and English | 302,431 |
| % | 47.9 |
| Total number eligible for FSM | 75,347 |
| Total number securing 5+ grades A*-C inc Maths and English | 17,987 |
| % | 23.9 |
Low attainment at GCSE inevitably impacts on progression to 16-18 education, which in turn reduces the number of students able to make a successful application for a university place. Just 14.5% of all students eligible for FSM at the age of 16 secure a place in higher education (an average of 10,850 students per year); less than half of these hold A Levels (5,122 students)
Q. How many pupils eligible for free school meals take up a place at the University of Cambridge each year?
A. Information regarding eligibility for free school meals (FSM) is not made available to higher education institutions. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, however, produced estimates in late 2010 which suggest that the University of Cambridge admitted an average of 22 FSM students per year during the three years 2006-08. For comparison, on average each higher education institution in the UK admitted 65 FSM students per year during the same period.
Q. Why don’t more students who were eligible for free school meals go on to study at the University of Cambridge?
A. The answer lies in attainment.
According to data produced by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, of the 4,516 FSM students who secured a pass grade at A Level in 2008 only 160 secured the grades then required for entry to the University of Cambridge (ie AAA). Students who were eligible for FSM therefore make up less than 1% of the highest achieving students nationally each year.
Assuming that all 160 of these students applied to Oxford or Cambridge in equal numbers (ie 80 students per institution) and 22 were successful in securing places at Cambridge (in line with the 2006-08 average) then this would represent a success rate of 27.5% – higher than the average success rate for all students applying to the University (25.6% over the last three years). In reality of course not every AAA student chooses to apply to Oxford or Cambridge, for instance because neither university offers the course they want to study, e.g. Dentistry.
Q. What steps is Cambridge taking to increase representation ?
A. We remain committed to engaging with disadvantaged groups to help raise aspirations and attainment. For example, we are running a series of Challenge Days in 2011 for Year 10 students from 119 schools, 75% of which have an above average proportion of students receiving free school meals .
The Challenge Days are designed to encourage bright students to consider higher education by giving them practical advice and encouragement, along with a taste of university life.
Cambridge admits the best and brightest students regardless of their background. Any student who has the ability should consider applying to university and making Cambridge one of their five choices, if we offer a course that excites them.
For more about our work with disadvantaged and under-represented groups, see: www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/outreach