MORE students from the poorest parts of Scotland are securing a place at university and staying on to complete their studies, new figures show.

However, the country still lags behind the rest of the UK both in terms of widening access and drop-out rates.

The shift has been welcomed by students, academics and universities, but Angela Constance, the Education Secretary, said further progress would be delivered through a new Widening Access Commission.

"With the First Minister being very clear that every child, whatever their background, should have an equal chance of attending university, these figures, while showing some progress, demonstrate there is much more to be done on widening access," she said.

The call to do more comes after the publication of new figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

The Hesa figures show 87.4 per cent of students in Scotland came from state school in 2013/14 compared to a UK average of 89.7 per cent, while just 26.4 per cent come from the lowest social classes compared to 32.6 per cent in the UK.

The figures are backed up by a separate report from the SFC which shows that 10.4 per cent of students come from the 20 per cent most deprived areas in 2013/14 compared to 9.7 per cent in 2012/13.

The Hesa statistics also show that 7.6 per cent of students dropped out of university compared to 7.9 per cent the previous year and a UK average of 7 per cent.

Professor Pete Downes, convener of Universities Scotland, which represents university principals, highlighted the fact far more pupils from wealthier areas secure the grades required to get to university.

He said: "The report highlights the continuing attainment gap between school leavers from deprived and privileged backgrounds. We welcome action to address this and look forward to making a full contribution to the forthcoming Widening Access Commission."

Mary Senior, UCU Scotland Official, said: "These figures show some improvement but it is slow and there is still much more to do. The new commission on widening access is very welcome but if they didn't know it before then they know now that they have a real job on their hands."

Gordon Maloney, president of NUS Scotland, which represents students, said the figures highlighted a "further small step" towards fair access.

He added: "It's really encouraging to see access rates for our poorest students increase and drop-out rates decrease across the board.

"We fully back the Scottish Government's..... national aspiration to see a university sector which mirrors society, with 20 per cent of university entrants coming from the 20 per cent poorest parts of Scotland."

However, Liz Smith, young people spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, said new legal targets for universities to widen access were unnecessary because of the progress made.

She added: "These targets are entirely false and they risk squeezing university places for other students. That is something that would be completely unacceptable."

The figures show Dundee University has made the most progress in increasing the number of students from the poorest backgrounds with the proportion rising from 7.5 per cent to 13.3 per cent.

St Andrews University has the highest proportion of private school pupils with 41 per cent coming from the independent sector compared to a UK average of just 10 per cent. However, the university also has the lowest drop-out rates.