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Gap between rich and poor university students widest for 12 years

31st July 2020

The gap between poor students and their more affluent peers attending university has widened to its largest point for 12 years, according to data published by the Department for Education (DfE).

Better-off pupils are significantly more likely to go to university than their more disadvantaged peers. And the gap between the two groups – 18.8 percentage points – is the widest it’s been since 2006/07.

The latest statistics show that 26.3% of pupils eligible for FSMs went on to university in 2018/19, compared with 45.1% of those who did not receive free meals. Only 12.7% of white British males who were eligible for FSMs went to university by the age of 19. The progression rate has fallen slightly for the first time since 2011/12, according to the DfE analysis.

Graham Attwell

Graham Attwell is Director of Pontydysgu. He is an Associate Fellow, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick and a Gastwissenschaftler at the Insititut Technik und Bildung, University of Bremen. Born in 1953 he has a BA (Hons) degree in History from the University of Wales: Swansea College.