Bright teenagers risk having university plans 'scuppered' by bad A-levels advice, Russell Group warns

State schools are preventing pupils from getting into top universities by allowing them to do easy A-level subjects, the Russell Group has suggested.

Bright teenagers risk having their plans for higher education “scuppered” by teachers advising them to pick subjects based on how high a grade they can achieve rather than how useful it is.

The Russell Group, which represents the country’s 24 leading universities including Oxford and Cambridge, has launched a new advice site for students aimed at steering them towards good A-level subjects.

They previously published a guide for teachers on A-level choices with a list of “facilitating subjects” featuring Maths, Further Maths, English Literature, Languages, History, Geography, Physics, Biology and Chemistry.

But Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the Russell Group, said this list had been “misinterpreted” by schools which are incorrectly advising students that they need to do all of these subjects or at least one of them to get into a prestigious university.

In fact, the list was aimed at bright students who wanted to go to university but had not yet decided which course to apply for.

The Russell Group has replaced its teachers' guide with a new website, called Informed Choices, aimed at advising students directly on which A-levels are useful for particular degree courses.

“The renewed guidance is particularly targeted towards supporting less advantaged pupils, who may not always receive the same level of advice as their better off peers,” the Russell Group said.

Research by the Sutton Trust,  a social mobility charity,  found that bright but disadvantaged students are only half as likely as their wealthier peers to take academically rigorous A-level subjects.

Dr Bradshaw gave the example of a “gifted pupil,” from a deprived part of the country, whose dreams of getting on to a marine biology degree were “scuppered” because no one had advised her that a BTEC in health and social care was not right way to achieve this.

Writing in Indi Voices, he said that such “information imbalances”  between wealthy and poor students must be corrected.

“Tackling the inequalities that affect the life chances of young people has many facets, from raising aspiration to ensuring all pupils receive a quality education,” he said. “Achieving greater parity in the advice they can access matters greatly too.”

The Russell Group conducted its own research which found that almost all 15 and 16-year-olds they surveyed thought that  choosing the right A-level subjects was less important that getting high grades, giving a good interview and writing a strong personal statement.

It also showed that private school pupils in year 10 were more likely than their peers at comprehensives to aspire to university, meaning they choose their A-level subjects with this in mind.

Dr Bradshaw said that despite being “hugely important” for getting into university, subject choice is often “overlooked” by students.

Chris McGovern, a former Government advisor and director of the Campaign For Real Education, said: “This is a welcome move by universities to bypass schools and get the right message to young people.

“Schools should put the interests of youngsters first when advising them on A-levels, but too many are focussed on their league table position. It’s easy enough to get top grades if you choose easy subjects - but good grades don’t matter as much as good subjects.”