Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of social mobility charity the Sutton Trust, is deeply concerned by UCAS’ equality report which found that students from the wealthiest areas of the country are more than six times more likely to secure places at top UK universities than those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Access
Sir Peter Lampl spoke to the Independent about the new analysis: “It’s seriously concerning to see such a strong correlation between your background and your chance of getting an offer, particularly at our leading universities.
“Today’s figures tell us that we must not get complacent about inequalities of access. We need to see a renewed effort from universities, government and schools to improve outreach work, subject choices and attainment for those from less advantaged backgrounds.”
The data, which covered the country’s largest 132 universities, found that students of all ages living within the top 20% most advantaged areas were 2.4 times more likely to enter higher education – and had a greater chance of their applications being accepted.
Gender
According to the research the gap between the number of men and women entering higher education has reached “record levels”, with women more likely to enter 90% of the UK’s largest universities over men.
Professor Les Ebdon, Director of Fair Access to Higher Education, said of the report: “I do not accept that an applicant’s ethnicity or where they come from should be a barrier to attending university.”
He added: “Publishing this data is a real step forward for widening access. It increases transparency, and helps universities to evaluate what they do so they can get to the heart of what has most impact.”
UCAS’ equality report can be read in detail, here: https://www.ucas.com/corporate/news-and-key-documents/news/ucas-publishes-first-equality-reports-individual-universities
Comments are closed.