The University of Durham, one of Britain’s oldest universities, has announced plans for a so-called ‘Asian Access’ programme which will allow Asian state-school candidates to enter the university with lower qualifications (essentially two grades lower) than others for a limited range of courses. The Mail has the story:
Under a controversial new scheme, the University of Durham is lowering entry requirements for British Asians in popular subjects including psychology, law and politics.
It is promising “a guaranteed, alternative offer (typically two grades lower)” to state school pupils of “Asian heritage/descent” who take part in a free summer school with accommodation, travel and food provided.
But critics point out that Asian teenagers are already far more likely to get into university than those from other ethnic groups, with more than half of sixth-formers accepted.
Official figures show that 51.4% of Asian state school pupils across England got places in higher education in 2024, compared with just 29.8% of white students.
Only Chinese pupils had a higher rate of acceptance (66.1%), with black pupils third (48%).
Reform MP and former minister Robert Jenrick told the Daily Mail: “This is a blatant case of anti-white discrimination.”
The university doesn’t see it that way:
A Durham University spokesman said: “We encourage applications from talented students of all backgrounds. Our admissions decisions are fair, non-discriminatory and based on published entry criteria.
“We agreed with the Office for Students as part of our published access and participation plan that we would increase our numbers of British students of Asian heritage who are currently underrepresented at Durham, along with students from other underrepresented groups.”
The Express said there was “outrage” about the plans, which cover courses in Biosciences, Psychology, Finance, Law, and Politics.
Interested parties had better look sharp. On the university’s Asian Access page it seems the deadline is Sunday April 19th. The website lists the eligibility criteria but points out that of course there are ways round:
We understand some students may experience mitigating circumstances, which can mean their results do not reflect their true potential. If this applies to you, please inform us in your application form. The teacher who supports your application can provide further details of any such circumstances through their part of the process too. Therefore, you may wish to speak with them about this before submitting your application.
The Mail’s story is worth reading in full.
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So to tick a box they are willing to lower standards?, what happens when they fail?, and the Uni then closed down for some perceived “muslim” insult, because thats what its really about, as there certainly isnt a shortage of chinese paying skyhigh fees!
Durham always did fart higher than its arsehole (as the French say).
It really has hit a new low with this though.
Isn’t this blatant exclusion / inclusion depending on race / colour etc? Isn’t that illegal?…
Didn’t get the memo ?
It does and it doesn’t, isn’t it.
What does “Asian” mean exactly here? Pakistani, by any chance? I struggle to believe that Indians are under-represented at Unis, or Chinese, Koreans or Japanese. The picture shows Orientals.
I was just going to make the same point – ‘Asian’ doesn’t mean Chinese. Otherwise the sentence ‘only Chinese pupils had a higher rate of acceptance’ doesn’t make sense. Yes, there are plenty of Chinese students at universities like Durham, but the are there because they pay ridiculously high fees, not for positive discrimination reasons.
They try to avoid use of the word paki and use Asian instead.
But we know what they mean.
Most of Russia is in Asia
Bangladeshi too no doubt.
Why don’t they cut this crap and just take the best qualified students ffs
I hope a Reform government will make selection on any grounds other than anticipated academic success a reason for withdrawing state sponsorship.
Having first closed down half the universities and reinstated vocational training.
I wonder whether the “mitigating” circumstances would cover a student who, although born to White British parents, identifies as British Asian?