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Regarding Anthony Wilkes¡¯ response to my work on the black and minority ethnic attainment gap (¡°Blaming the victims¡±, Letters, 7 February): I need to clarify that my research does not ¡°blame¡± BME students for their practices or place responsibility for their underachievement on them. Rather I have highlighted that too often BME students feel the need to develop alternative academic support because they are not receiving the help from lecturers that they should be getting.

I also argued in my presentation at the Society for Research into Higher Education conference in December that institutional practices need to change to meet BME students¡¯ needs (¡°Black students loath to seek aid¡±, News, 24 January). Wilkes¡¯ letter distorts the tone and content of my work.

Jacqueline Stevenson, Head, Centre for Social and Educational Research across the Life Course, Leeds Metropolitan University