David Cameron announces plan to make UCAS applications anonymous

Prime Minister, David Cameron has announced that names will be removed from UCAS applications forms from 2017 The idea is to prevent unconscious bias against applicants from minority groups, with UCAS keen to see an improvement in minority student numbers.

The measures were set down by Cameron at a round table discussion in Downing Street on Monday (26^th October).

The move has been supported by graduate employers in both the private and the public sectors, who have said they will keep candidate names away from graduate recruitment applications. Among the businesses to have signed up to the idea are the Civil Service, Teach First, the BBC, the NHS, HSBC, Virgin Money, KPMG, Deloitte, and local government - names which employ around 1.8 million people in the UK.

David Cameron spoke on the move, saying, “I said in my conference speech that I want us to end discrimination and finish the fight for real equality in our country today. Today we are delivering on that commitment and extending opportunity to all.”

The Prime Minister continued, “If you’ve got the grades, the skills and the determination this government will ensure that you can succeed.”

This view was supported by Civil Service chief executive John Manzoni, who said, “I’m confident that this important step will help us build an organisation that is even more talented, diverse and effective than it is today.”

This hiding of applicant details has already been adopted by financial services firm Deloitte, who don’t tell recruiters where candidates went to school or university. Chief Executive, David Sproul said that name-blind applications would further their initiative to”ensure that job offers are made on the basis of potential, not ethnicity, gender or past personal circumstance”.

Meanwhile, UCAS chief executive, Mary Curnock Cook, said they will work with degree-awarding institutions about name-blind applications, “as well as a wider range of changes which could impact applications from black and ethnic minority students.” She asserted, “UCAS is deeply committed to increasing participation from disadvantaged groups.”

The ethnic make-up of university applicants is already changing. Although a 2008 study showing that white students were more likely to be accepted to university places, UCAS have said the number of ethnic minority students has risen since then. The 2014 admissions figures for 18-year-olds showed that 27.2% of students entering university were white, compared to 38.7% of Asians and 34.3% of black teenagers.

It is clear that name-blind applications will only serve to further balance the diversity of university admissions, creating an more even process for all.