University applications to include parents' education

Would-be university students will have to declare whether anyone in their family has a degree in a move to increase participation among poorer people.

They will also have to say whether they have ever been in care. The two new questions will be inserted in all university application forms to ensure admissions staff know more about students' backgrounds.

The move was welcomed by ministers last night but came under fire from leaders of the country's independent schools.

Jonathan Shephard, the general secretary of the Independent Schools Council - which represents most of the country's private schools, said: "This information is of no relevance to admissions tutors who are looking at candidates not at parents - and should not be disclosed to universities.

Boris Johnson, the Conservatives' higher education spokesman, described the questions as "an outrageous attempt to politicise the admissions process".

"It will compel students to put parental details on their admission forms when they should be judged on their academic ability and potential," he added.

Professor Drummond Bone, the president of Universities UK,which represents university vice-chancellors, said: "It is useful for a university to have at its disposal a wide range of information to build up a full and rounded view of an applicant. There is no question of dropping standards. There is no benefit for a university in taking students who cannot profit from higher education or setting them up to fail."

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said it had collected the same details for years but they were only divulged to institutions at the end of the admissions cycle. It said: "The Ucas board felt that to widen participation, this information should be made available to admissions officers during decision-making and that, in principle, data on parental occupation and ethnicity should be released at the same point."

* A "family learning course" will be piloted from autumn for parents of under-fives who struggle with literacy and numeracy, the Education Secretary Alan Johnson announced yesterday.