‘Chances of university place down to where you live’

A SCHOOL leaver’s chances of going to university depend heavily on where they live, new figures suggest.

Teenagers in London are more likely to go into higher education than their peers across England, according to new data published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas).

On average, a third of 18-yearolds in England went on to study for a degree this autumn, the university admissions service statistics show.

But a breakdown reveals significant regional differences.

The highest university entry rate was in the capital, where more than two fifths of 18-yearolds were accepted on to degree courses this autumn.

“This means 18-year-olds from London were more likely than 18-year-olds anywhere else in England (and the UK more generally) to be accepted into higher education this year,” Ucas said.

The South-East had the second-highest entry rate, at 33.7 per cent. Every other English region had entry rates lower than the overall rate for the nation, the Ucas figures show, although in each case, apart from one, the entry rate was over 30 per cent.

The region with the lowest proportion of school leavers going on to university this year was the South-West at 28.9 per cent.

Clare Marchant, Ucas chief executive, said: “A common theme to emerge from our analysis of data from the 2017 cycle is that the entry rate of 18-year-olds to higher education has increased across all parts of the UK.

“This trend is most pronounced in London. There have been significant and much documented improvements to secondary education in the capital.”