Access to higher education for people from less advantaged backgrounds in Scotland and the rest of the UK
The Scottish Government has made clear its commitment to social justice principles and recognises the need for firmer action to tackle the social class gap in higher education participation. In a recent policy statement, Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, stated: ‘… a child born today in one of our most deprived communities should have no less a chance of entering higher education than a child born in one of our least deprived. We want every child – whatever their background – to have an equal chance of attending university’. In order to identify the action needed to ensure that 20% of higher education students are drawn from the most socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods, a Commission on Widening Access chaired by Dame Ruth Silver was set up by the Scottish Government in 2015, reporting in 2016. A similar commitment to widen participation of people from disadvantaged backgrounds has been made by the Minister of State for Universities and Science in England (BIS, 2015), and social justice is one of the guiding principles of the Diamond Committee which is currently reviewing the provision of higher education in Wales.
This research, which builds on earlier analysis of higher education across the UK (Riddell et al, 2015), will provide an analysis of:
- Higher education initial participation rates (HEIPR) in Scotland and the rest of the UK by neighbourhood deprivation;
- Participation in different types of university by neighbourhood deprivation, social class (measured by parental occupation) and type of school attended;
- Changes in HEIPR and in the social profile of different types of institution over time;
- The social profile of comparable institutions using HESA benchmarks; and
- The current state of play with regard to widening access activity in Scottish higher education institutions, particularly the ancient universities.
FINAL REPORT "ACCESS IN SCOTLAND"
Related publications
- Working paper: Disabled students in Higher Education in the UK: Social and other characteristics by type of impairment
- CREID Briefing 33: Access to higher education in Scotland
Blog articles
- Conor Ryan on the implications of today’s report on Scottish higher education access (The Sutton Trust website, 27 May 2016)
- Five favourite facts and findings (by Conor Ryan from Conor's Commentary, 16 May 2018)
Funder
Start date | 25 Jauary 2016 |
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End date | 3 July 2016 |
Research team
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Principal Investigator: Professor Sheila Riddell
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Co-Investigator: Dr Elisabet Weedon
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Researchers: Lucy Hunter Blackburn, Dr Gitit Kadar-Satat
Events
- Seminar - Higher Education and Social Class: Scotland in Comparative Perspective (31.5.2016)
- Invited talk - Presentation on widening access in UK and Europe (10.8.2016)
Relevant news
'Access in Scotland' referred to by the Commissioner for Fair Access's Annual Report (13 Dec 2017)
A New Social Contract for Students, 2017 (20 Nov 2017)
Blackburn's research evidence on tuition fee cited by The Spectator (4 Nov 2017)
CREID's report "Access to HE" quoted extensively by BuzzFeed News (05.07.2017)
Press coverage on CREID's report "Access in Scotland" (27-30.5.2016)
CREID's research on widening access noted in BBC News (4th Feb 2016)