Why are Britain's universities still failing black and Asian students?

NUS data shows ethnic minority students continue to face academic, social, and financial barriers – along with overt racism
The McEwan Hall and Bristo Square, Edinburgh
New research shows that white university students receive significantly higher degree grades than those from minority ethnic backgrounds. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod Murdo Macleod/Murdo Macleod

New figures show that white university students receive significantly higher degree grades than those from minority ethnic backgrounds with the same A-level qualifications. This suggests that higher education institutions are somehow failing black students, which should be a national embarrassment.

Three years ago the National Union of Students (NUS) conducted a study on the experiences of black students. The findings showed that they face a range of barriers in all levels of education, which affect satisfaction and attainment. The figures made for uncomfortable reading. It emerged that one in six black students had experienced racism in their institution, a third felt their educational environment left them unable to bring their minority perspective to lectures and tutorials, and 7% openly labelled their learning environment as "racist".

Many linked their experiences of racism with a drop in their self-esteem, confidence, motivation and desire to continue their education, reporting that they felt marginalised and socially excluded. Worse still, we continue to hear stories of how black students are being pushed down before they've even really had a chance to get their feet off the ground.

One Indian overseas student said she started being harassed by a group of boys shortly after the release of the film This Is England. One of the boys attacked her in a class, shouting: "You brown bitch"," later claiming he had previously called friends similar things and didn't think anything of it. He had previously drawn pictures of her with a blacked-up face, even though she had made it clear she was angry and didn't find his behaviour funny. These incidents were not dealt with at a senior level, making her feel like her concerns weren't taken seriously.

A black British student said that his flatmates isolated him, destroyed his multicultural poster in their shared flat and left in its place a picture of the word "racism" alongside a picture of Hitler. A black African student reports that one of his lecturers behaves as if he thinks international students are stupid and a black female student's tutor constantly called her by another black girl's name.

Some students surveyed believed that their teachers did not provide the same level of attention or encouragement they would give to white peers, and that they were often "condemned to fail"; they believed their teachers were willing to help other students, but were apathetic when they requested the same. As one respondent put it: "Failure was already predetermined."

Left unaddressed, these barriers will only continue to grow. The government has forced course closures, threatened institutional shutdowns, scrapped the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for college students, and tripled university tuition fees to £9,000 a year.

These policies have a detrimental and disproportionate impact on black and Asian students' access to opportunities: they are more likely to come from a lower socio-economic background – 75% of Britain's minority communities live in 88 of Britain's poorest wards.

And if the government's plans to privatise the student loan book go ahead, interest rates are likely to rise and student debt with it, meaning black students could become even more excluded from higher education. Moreover, black and female graduates have been shown to take longer to pay off their student debts due to persistent discrimination in employment.

Pricing out the disadvantaged from education simply condemns whole sections of the population to hardship and marginalisation. This is no way to build a tolerant and prosperous society.

We have a long way to go to close the gaps for black students in education. If black students feel unwelcome in lecture rooms this must be addressed by tackling the racism that still exists on our campuses.

All black students have the right to learn in an inclusive environment and it is crucial we improve their experiences, and do it now.