For those of us who don’t live in the South East, getting to the Pearson HQ in High Holborn for an 0800 breakfast start last Friday was not easy. But it was well worth it.

The ‘Hot Breakfast’ Briefing featured some of the first more detailed policy responses to the Government’s recent White Paper “Students at the Heart of the System”.

Following good umbrella presentations by Steve Besley and Louis Confait, Pam Tatlow from Million Plus, which represents newer or modern universities, presented some figures which I hadn’t previously seen on ethnic minority and deprived students. This is an argument on which Pam and Million Plus deserve support.

I used to lecture at City of Birmingham College of Commerce before it became City of Birmingham Polytechnic, which is now part of Birmingham City University. So I know where Million Plus is coming from.

It is these more modern universities which have highest numbers of those who benefit most from going into higher education. There are thousands of cases where this can change students’ whole lives and those of their families. Often their whole families turn up on graduation day since their son or daughter is the first in the wider family to attend university.

Yet these institutions will be part of the new so called “Higher Education Squeezed Middle”.

FE colleges are well placed to compete for the White Paper’s 20,000 lower cost places. They have comprehensive access systems and know well the Million Plus cohort – for many of which they have provided students with access. FE colleges also have more local connections, especially with local businesses. So there will be tough competition between modern universities and FE colleges to enrol these students.

All previous information shows that it’s difficult enough for those from ethnic minority and less privileged backgrounds to access higher education.

I don’t want to see them as the biggest losers from the Government’s attempts to drive down HE costs. I’ll be writing more about this soon.