City universities ‘committed to access for all’

DUNDEE’S universities have appeared in a list showing the number of students from deprived areas.

The universities of Dundee and Abertay came in at 105th and 109th respectively out of 132.

The figures, published by the Higher Education Policy Institute, measures the equality of student entrants across all backgrounds.

A spokesman for the University of Dundee said: “The university is committed to making higher education accessible to everybody, regardless of their background.

“The POLAR data model used in this report is not particularly relevant to Scottish institutions due to variations in the way that information is collected elsewhere in the United Kingdom, something which is reflected in the wider figures.

“According to data used as standard north of the border from the Scottish Funding Council and approved by the Scottish Government, based on the Scottish Indices of Multiple Deprivation, the University of Dundee is one of the best performing higher education establishments for widening access to students from the most deprived 20% and most deprived 40% of neighbourhoods since 2012/13.”

A spokesman for Abertay said: “About 17% of our student intake comes from the most deprived (SIMD20) areas, the third-highest rate in Scotland behind Glasgowbased University of the West of Scotland and Glasgow Caledonian University.

“More than 90% of our students come from state schools and more than 35% come direct from college.”