Buzzwords, business and big university access issues

Last week I visited Abdul Rahman at his school in north London, a comprehensive academy, to discuss his A-level choices and his progression to university. A first generation immigrant, son of Libyan refugees, he achieved outstanding GCSEs (11 A*s) and is taking all the right steps towards a strong application to Oxford next year to read Law.

Abdul is just one of the outstanding youngsters that I work with through The Brilliant Club, and he has a sparkling future ahead of him. But thousands of other outstanding students do not. Talent in non-selective state schools is regularly wasted because there is not enough focused support to help young people secure places at top universities. Last summer only one in five students at non-selective state schools secured places at one of our country's thirty most selective universities, compared to half of all private and grammar school students. Only one in a fifty students eligible for free school meals achieved the same feat. Despite the fact that less than 7 per cent of the population are privately educated, it is not surprising (or healthy) that over 50 per cent of our judges, solicitors, lords, barristers, finance directors and top journalists were privately educated.

I believe these figures are symptomatic of an education system that is defective and arguably unjust. Widening access to all universities has been high on the political agenda throughout the last decade. However, in light of higher tuition fees there is a pressing need to increase efforts to widen access to our top universities and it is imperative that all stakeholders work together to provide innovative solutions that make true equality of opportunity a reality.

The confluence of these circumstances creates significant opportunity. As schools try to improve performance they are free to act and pursue strategies in an increasingly liberalised market, with a range of governmental, charitable and private initiatives and organisations offering their services to the needs of school agendas.

With this is mind, it is heartening to see that the organisations that are most active within this market, that are exploiting its full potential for innovation, are doing so for the benefit of the most disadvantaged students. New leadership development programmes like Teach First and Future Leaders, transformational academy networks like ARK and the Harris Federation, free schools set up by pioneering providers like the Cuckoo Academies Trust; these are just a few examples of innovators who are capturing this new landscape for the benefit of the students who need it most.

Market forces, external provision, innovation, network-building, capturing new territory. None of the terms would be out of place in a business buzzword blurb, but they do have a place in the new educational landscape. Educational disadvantage is one of the most pressing issues this country faces today; we must take every opportunity to address this problem and cannot afford to be precious about whether or not we turn to the market for a vehicle or a vocabulary.