19 January 2005
Inequality of access to higher education by young people is deep and persistent
A ground-breaking study has revealed the extent and scale of the inequality of access to higher education by young people from affluent and poorer areas throughout the country. The 'Young participation in higher education' report by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) demonstrates that the higher education divide between advantaged and disadvantaged children is deep and persistent.
The study of participation rates by students in every region, constituency and ward from 1994 to 2000 reveals that the most advantaged 20 per cent of young people are up to six times more likely to enter higher education than the most disadvantaged 20 per cent (See section 3.26, page 97). This educational divide has changed little during the period of the study and the local participation maps (See example on page 47, and POLAR maps on the HEFCE web-site) released with the report show that inequalities in young participation are found throughout Britain.
Sir Howard Newby, Chief Executive of HEFCE, said:
'Higher education offers considerable long-term benefits to individuals and also receives substantial amounts of taxpayers' money. We have known for a long time that these benefits are not distributed evenly.
'This report highlights just how entrenched the divisions are between advantaged and disadvantaged areas. It reveals the extent of the challenge facing society and the whole educational system if we are to make real inroads in improving participation rates for young people from poorer backgrounds so that a greater proportion can benefit from higher education.
'While the report reveals stark inequalities, there are some encouraging findings. The introduction of tuition fees and the replacement of student grants by loans do not appear to have affected the choices of young people from different backgrounds, even for young people living in the poorest areas (See section 5.5 page 134). And for those who do make it into higher education from disadvantaged backgrounds, the overwhelming majority complete their courses and are even slightly more likely to go onto postgraduate study than other entrants'. (See section 5.15, page 139).
'For the first time we have shared, robust and accurate information - in the report and on the web-site - which can be used at national, regional and local levels by policy makers and practitioners to tackle the deep-seated problem of the low participation of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in higher education.'
The report also charts the growing divide in participation rates between men and women. Women were 18 per cent more likely than men to enter higher education in 2000 - increasing from just six per cent six years earlier. This inequality is more marked for young men living in the most disadvantaged areas, and is compounded by the fact that young men are less likely to complete their HE courses and gain a qualification than young women. (See section 2.7, page 28)
Even the month in which you were born has a bearing on your chances of entering higher education. In England the oldest child in a school year, born in September, is 20 per cent more likely to enter higher education at age 18 than a child born in August. These differences appear to reflect earlier patterns in progression from GCSE to A-levels. (See section 2.8, page 30)
But the most telling factor of all is where you were born. The five-year study by HEFCE analyst Mark Corver uses new methods to calculate accurate participation rates for areas across Britain. (See section 2.10, page 33, and section 2.14, page 45).
These show that regional inequalities are growing. Young people living in London are now 50 per cent more likely to go to university than those living in the North East. But using areas such as parliamentary constituencies shows that simple regional summaries can be misleading. The south of England has some constituencies - such as Bristol South - where only one in 10 go to university, and the north of England has constituencies - such as Sheffield Hallam - where nearly two out of three young people enter higher education.
The study finds that the contrasts between the haves and have-nots are sharpest when looking at small areas such as wards. The fifth of young people living in the most advantaged neighbourhoods can look forward to a better than 50 per cent chance of going to university. Other young people who live in the least advantaged fifth of neighbourhoods have only a 10 per cent chance.
These contrasting areas can be found in most of Britain's cities and towns, sometimes right next to each other. Yet the gulf in participation rates between them has hardly changed over the period of the report.
Notes
1. The 'Young participation in higher education' report (HEFCE 2005/03) by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is available on the HEFCE web-site. The POLAR web-site provides maps and tables of young participation rates for areas from regions to wards. A region has typically 60,000 18 year-olds a year; a ward has typically around 50 18 year-olds a year.
2. The report builds on HEFCE's first measurement of participation rates in 1997 which showed that there widely differing participation rates for young people from different neighbourhoods. The 1997 report led to the setting up of funds to widen participation in higher education and to raise aspiration and achievement of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
3. This latest report measures the proportion of young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19. The participation rate in higher education for young people in England is around 30 per cent at the end of the period studied. The Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) statistic, which is used to measure progress towards the Government's aspiration of 50 per cent participation in HE, gives higher values as it includes people aged up to 30.
4. The research is ground-breaking because it draws on Government data never before made available. The study used the Government's child benefit data to establish a reliably accurate population base on 18-year olds from 1994 to 2000 - from which the proportion of entrance rates for different groups can be reliably measured for the first time.
5. As a result the study was able to use new methods to obtain participation rates for different groups that were accurate enough to detect small changes. These new methods have been made possible by co-operation across government to assemble student information and population data (notably child benefit data from the Inland Revenue) to give a full and accurate picture of the changes in young participation.