page_title: University of Bristol admissions controversy
hierarchical_section_title: University of Bristol admissions controversy
caption_attribution_description: Trevor Phillips (Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, London) Foto: CC-BY-SA Stephan Röhl / www.boell.de
context_page_description: The University of Bristol admissions controversy refers to an historic dispute over the admissions process for the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom which occurred in 2003. The 2003 incident was caused by concerns over bias in the admissions system that were perceived as favouritism towards state school students after the rejection of some students with strong academic records who attended independent schools. The University's widening participation policy allowed the awarding of slightly lower offers to promising applicants from schools with lower academic achievement. Controversy surrounding this policy resulted in a brief boycott of the University by some independent schools and intense media debate about the fairness of the admissions policy as well as praise and criticism of the policy and the boycott from politicians, student leaders and education groups. The boycott was lifted after two months when the Independent School's Council expressed satisfaction with the fairness of the admissions system.
context_section_description: The University of Bristol admissions controversy refers to an historic dispute over the admissions process for the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom which occurred in 2003.  The 2003 incident was caused by concerns over bias in the admissions system that were perceived as favouritism towards state school students after the rejection of some students with strong academic records who attended  independent schools. The University's widening participation policy allowed the awarding of slightly lower offers to promising applicants from schools with lower academic achievement. Controversy surrounding this policy resulted in a brief boycott of the University by some independent schools and intense media debate about the fairness of the admissions policy as well as praise and criticism of the policy and the boycott from politicians, student leaders and education groups. The boycott was lifted after two months when the Independent School's Council expressed satisfaction with the fairness of the admissions system. Two years later a survey of independent schools concluded that: "It is likely that rejections which may have seemed discriminatory to parents and schools have in fact, been due to a large rise in suitably qualified applicants" and independent evidence was compiled suggesting that claims of bias were wildly exaggerated. The controversy has now been superseded by the reality that all British Universities have active 'widening participation' policies designed to increase University applications from lower-achieving schools which tend, de facto, to be state schools.
caption: Then Commission for Racial Equality head Trevor Phillips criticised the rejection of his daughter who attended the independent Westminster School.[1]
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