Socioeconomic disadvantage and access to higher education

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.