Elitism charge is challenged

Flagging fields benefit as first cohort of gifted pupils head for campus, says Claire Sanders

Super-bright children from disadvantaged homes are finding their way into elite universities and shortage subjects, according to the first study of destinations for members of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth - the Government's flagship scheme for gifted children.

Cambridge tops the list of universities that have admitted academy members, closely followed by Oxford. In all, 61 per cent of this first substantial cohort from the academy are going to Russell Group universities.

Shortage subjects such as engineering, maths and chemistry are also proving popular.

Academy students from the UK's most deprived areas are as just as likely to go to Russell Group universities as their more affluent peers.

Deborah Eyre, director of the academy, said: "Once disadvantaged pupils are registered with us, it is no longer their school or socioeconomic group that counts. It is their intelligence that defines them."

The academy, which has been charged by the Government with compiling a register of the top 5 per cent of the most able children in the country, has been accused in the past of elitism, and many schools have been reluctant to register pupils with it because of this.

Professor Eyre said: "This first cohort does have an overrepresentation of wealthy achievers and urban prosperous. We are very aware that the academy should benefit all pupils and believe the national register will bring in a wider cross-section."

She said that she was delighted that the most popular universities with academy members were ones that had worked particularly closely with the academy through its Higher Education Gateway programme. The programme offers advice and learning opportunities to pupils with little experience of higher education.

"This is not about universities cherry-picking a list of bright pupils, this is about building a relationship," Professor Eyre said.

Geoff Parks, director of admissions for the Cambridge colleges, said that applicants to Cambridge needed to show engagement with their chosen subject beyond the school curriculum.

"This can take the form of membership of the academy or a number of other forms," he said. "We do not want to go back to a form of 11-plus where exams at 11 determined future opportunities."

The research also shows a high uptake of science subjects by academy members. The most popular subject is medicine, with engineering coming third and mathematics fifth. Both physics and chemistry make it into the top 15.

Professor Eyre said: "Through online courses and masterclasses, our members are introduced to a very exciting curriculum that enables them to grasp the possibilities of the subject."

The academy, which was set up by the Government in 2002 at Warwick University, works with more than 50 universities and colleges. It has 85,000 members aged 11-19, with 393 young people in the first large cohort to reach university age. Once the national register is complete, it is expected to include the names of 200,000 pupils.

claire.sanders@thes.co.uk </a>