Scottish universities have fallen just short of meeting the Government’s target on admissions of students from deprived backgrounds – two years ahead of schedule.
Statistics published by the Office for National Statistics show 15.9 per cent of the new intake in Scottish higher education were from the most deprived 20 per cent in the country, amounting to 5,210 students.
READ MORE: Asylum seeker who feared death if deported earns top Glasgow University offer
The Scottish Government had previously set a target of increasing the figure to 16 per cent by 2021, meaning the 2018/19 cohort narrowly missed out on meeting the target.
The figure had risen to around 15 per cent in 2017/18 after three years sitting at 14 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, the number of students admitted in 2018/19 from the least deprived 20 per cent is more than double – and steadily rising year on year – at more than 30,000.
Higher Education Minister Richard Lochhead said Scotland’s universities are “more inclusive than ever”, while also pointing to a rise in the number of native students accepted to study.
He said: “These figures show the tremendous progress of Scotland’s universities in making higher education not only more inclusive than ever, but also attracting a rising number of Scots overall.
“The proportion of full-time first degree entrants from the most deprived areas in Scotland is at its highest level on record, giving many more people – no matter their circumstances – an equal chance of success.
“That means we are on the verge of meeting a key milestone for widening access – just 0.1 percentage points shy of the target – two years ahead of schedule. That is very welcome news.”
READ MORE: University lecturers to be balloted on strike action over pay
However, a drop in the number of EU students for the first time in 15 years may be made worse by the UK’s planned departure from the European Union at the end of this month, the minister said.
In 2018, Mr Lochhead’s predecessor, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said the Scottish Government aimed to ensure that all applicants, regardless of background, had a fair chance of getting into university by 2030.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel