Socioeconomic disadvantage and access to higher education

TR Number

Date

2000

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Joseph Rowntree Foundation by The Policy Press

Abstract

In Britain, despite these increases in the number of full-time students, there remains an under-representation in higher education of school-leavers from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 1997 approximately one third of school-leavers in the UK entered higher education. However, geographically this varied from over 80% in the most affluent areas to 3% in the most disadvantaged. This inequality of representation is certain to have negative consequences for both economic efficiency and social justice. This report details the nature of this under-representation and explores the reasons behind this situation.

Description

Keywords

social justice, social mobility, equal opportunity in education, United Kingdom

Citation