If the universities continue to work in a vacuum, all their good intentions about tackling disadvantage will end in failure.

So says Jim Walsh, a policy analyst with the Combat Poverty Agency. "There seems to be a discontinuity between what the universities and the local communities are doing," he says. Third-level initiatives to tackle disadvantage should be set in the context of the National Poverty Strategy, Walsh argues. "They don't seem to be looking at all the other initiatives - organised by the Department and the area-based partnerships, for example - which are bringing added value to local communities. The universities are coming to this very late and they are money-led. "They need to link in with existing initiatives - otherwise they could end up undermining them."

Rather than establishing their own agendas, the universities should link into the partnership approach to community development. Seeing the bigger picture is essential, he warns. The go-it-alone nature of the policies adopted by the universities is underlined by their lack of a cohesive approach to the issues involved in tackling disadvantage. For Walsh, the root cause of educational disadvantage is child poverty. Is this an issue the universities are willing to take on board?