Students with BTECs do worse at university – here’s how we close the gap

Every so often a new study tells us privately-schooled pupils perform worse at university than their state-schooled peers, or that there are huge gaps in attainment across measures of disadvantage, gender and ethnicity. Perhaps the most significant gulf, however, lies between students who arrive holding A-levels and those who have graduated with BTECs. Using data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency research shows that, over the past 10 years, 6% of students arrived at university exclusively with BTEC qualifications, accepted on the basis of their tariff score. This is meant to signify equivalent prior educational performance, regardless of the qualifications through which it was obtained. But student outcomes suggest otherwise. Read More