State school pupils still left out of universities

19 Dec 02
Universities need to do more to widen access to students from poorer backgrounds, says Education Secretary Charles Clarke.

20 December 2002

They needed to focus on 'schools and children who have not always seen universities as the way forward', he said, as the intake figures for the academic year 2000/01 showed only a 1% rise in England in state school pupils entering higher education.

Association of University Teachers leader Sally Hunt said: 'It is deeply depressing to see statistics showing that participation in higher education hasn't widened at all.'

Oxford and Cambridge increased their proportions of state school pupils to 53%, which still puts them on the lowest share, along with St George's Hospital Medical School in London.

The proportion of young entrants from areas where traditionally there have been few university students was unchanged from the previous year – at 12%. Also unchanged was the figure of 25% for students drawn from working-class families.

Higher education minister Margaret Hodge said: 'Clearly some of our brightest students from our poorest neighbourhoods and state schools do not have the opportunity that they deserve. Our best universities need to hunt out potential in their local communities.'

The statistics, published by the Higher Education Funding Council on December 18, also monitored access for disabled students, showing that 1.4% of students are claiming a disability allowance.

PFdec2002

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