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STRUGGLE: Shani Page-Muir

MORE NEEDS to be done to improve the university experience for black and minority ethnic (BAME) students, the minister for Universities and Science has said.

Delivering a speech at the Universities UK Conference at the University of Surrey, Jo Johnson – the younger brother of London mayor Boris Johnson – outlined Government plans to give students better value for money from their degrees.

Johnson also spoke critically on the present university culture and accused academics of prioritising research over teaching.

In order to improve the representation of disadvantaged groups, Johnson announced a new agreement with UCAS, the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry to higher education, to publish data on the outcomes of the admissions process.

Johnson said: “We must do more to raise outcomes for those from black and minority ethnic communities. Making university admissions data available will help the whole sector target its efforts much more effectively.”

UCAS data shows the proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds placed in higher education rose by four per cent this year.

The proposed measures would be significant in charting the progress of the Government’s commitment to increase the number of BME students heading to university by a further 20 per cent by 2020.

HIGHER LEARNING: Universities minister Jo Johnson addresses the audience

Calling for greater transparency in regards to tuition fees, the minister added: “It is not at all clear to some students what their up-to £9,000 a year tuition fees actually pay for, and this has led to calls, which I support, for greater transparency from providers about what they spend fee income on."

A Voice poll found that 50 per cent of readers believed university should be free, while a further 28 per cent said current fees meant poor students left university already deep in debt.

Leeds University graduate Shani Page-Muir shared the experience of fellow black students and friends who still had to work part-time job to make ends meet.

She said: “Student loans really don’t cover all the costs of maintenance and rent, so a lot of friends – particularly in their final year – had to make the difficult decision of whether they would continue working at the detriment of their studies or they would have to give it up.”

Johnson’s proposals for higher education reform will make its first appearance this autumn on green paper for consultation and debate.

It will include the introduction of a Teaching Excellence Framework as a means of incentivising and rewarding good quality teaching and market reform to improve competition and give students more choice.

First elected to parliament in 2010 to represent Orpington, Johnson, an Oxford graduate and Old Etonian, was appointed universities minister this year after serving as David Cameron’s policy chief since 2013.