School heads boycott Bristol Univer

School heads boycott Bristol University
Bristol University is being boycotted by top independent schools because of its alleged policy of positive discrimination. Surveys reveal that record numbers of the best independent students have been rejected by Bristol this year, despite having impeccable grades, and the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference and the Girl’ Schools Association are now advising their A-level students not to apply to the university. Angry teachers say that Bristol is deliberately choosing state school students with lower grades instead in order to meet government “quotas”
In its defence, the university said that it was under pressure from the government to increase its intake of state school pupils. At present , the government issues guidelines to universities regarding the proportion of state school pupils that they should admit, but universities could soon be under even more pressure to admit poorer students. The government plans to replace the current system with specific targets based on students’ parents’ income and whether their parents went to university.