Black and Asian students more likely to go to university

BLACK and Asian students are more than twice as likely to go to university as their white counterparts, latest figures show.

In the first survey of its kind, research published by the Office for Students (OFS) today analysed each university and college’s student intake, dropout rates, degree attainment and progression to further study or employment for different groups of students over the last five years.

It found that among the most deprived students, black, Asian and mixed race were far more likely to attend full-time university courses or apprenticeships than their white counterparts in the last five years.

Between 2013-14 and 2017-18, the number of white students has flatlined. In 2013-14, 1,987 out of every 10,000 white 18-year-olds went into higher education. For 2017-18 the figure was 2,121.

For black 18-year-olds, the number rose from 3,335 to 4,310 out of 10,000 over the same period. For Asian students, it rose from 3,220 to 4,315 and for mixed race students, it increased from 2,640 to 3,695.

However, the data also found that higher proportions of white students achieve the top two degrees at all universities in England compared with their black peers.

It reveals that for 2017-18, the gap in attainment rates between white and black students was greater than 20 percentage points for 46.4 per cent of providers.

The OFS said all of the 99 providers have higher proportions of white students achieving a 1st or 2:1 than black students.