Full impact on widening participation in universities still to come, says report

Although young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to apply to university than 10 years ago, the report, from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), says the full impact on widening participation of the introduction of tuition fees up to £9,000 a year is unlikely to be felt for a few years.

The report says students who entered higher education in 2012-13 would have been exposed to programmes such as the now scrapped Aimhigher initiative, and would have already considered a university education before fees were increased. It cautions against presuming that recent trends in participation will continue.

As well as increased university fees, the report also notes other key changes made by the coalition government that may impact on widening participation including:

• scrapping of the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for college students
• introducing fees for level 3 learners aged over 24
• changes to career advice.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The introduction of massively higher university fees saw a drop in applications almost right across the board and particularly hit mature students. Any slight improvements in attracting students from the poorest background could be at risk thanks to a raft of other punitive policies from the coalition.

'Universities and staff will continue to do what they can to attract the very best students to the most suitable courses and institutions, but the government needs to support students and universities otherwise we risk being left behind as other countries invest in higher education.'