The universities where less than 5% of places go to poor whites
UNIVERSITIES are still failing to admit enough poor white students and half have 5 per cent or less in their intakes, a study has found.
White working- class youngsters are the least likely of any group to enter higher education, it found, after those from traveller backgrounds.
The proportion was especially low at the elite universities, with poor white students making up just 2 per cent of the intake at Cambridge and 3 per cent at Oxford.
Meanwhile, at fellow Russell Group members Warwick and Bristol the proportion is 3 per cent, and at Durham it is 4 per cent.
By contrast, much higher proporthose tions exist at lower- ranking universities which require lower grades for entry, such as former polytechnics.
The study, by campaign group the National Education Opportunities Network (Neon), found that at the University of Sunderland 27 per cent of places go to white students from deprived areas while at Teesside Universty it is 28 per cent.
In fact, of all the white working-class students getting a university place, 70 per cent of them go to former polytechnics.
Researchers found that of the 124 English universities they studied, 64 had poor white students making up 5 per cent or less of their total intake.
The report focused on white students from neighbourhoods in the bottom 20 per cent for ‘participation’ – areas where few youngsters usually go to university. If a target of 5 per cent of poor white students were to be set across all universities, it would mean another 10,000 going to university, Neon said.
Experts have for many years warned that white workingclass communities – especially
‘Make sure they have a fair chance’
in coastal or rural areas – are being ‘left behind’ by the success of the big cities. They say these families are less aspirational than those with migrant backgrounds, who often rise fast because of a strong work ethic and desire to succeed.
Dr Graeme Atherton, director of Neon and co-author of the report, said: ‘This report shows that, while there is some innovative work being undertaken in the higher education sector to address the low levels of participation of this group of students, big variability exists in their chances of participating across providers.’
Former education secretary Justine Greening told the BBC the report was a ‘wake-up call’ which ‘shows we need new ideas, including on student finance, to make sure more white workingclass students have a fair chance to get into university’.
In total numbers, white students, of all social backgrounds, are the biggest group going to university. But in terms of a proportion of the population, white youngsters are less likely to go to university than Asian or black teenagers. The latest applica- tion figures, for courses in the autumn, show that applications from white students are declining, while they are increasing for Asian and black youngsters.
Under rules from the Office for Students regulator, universities must set out the work they will do to reduce the gaps in higher education participation and attainment between the most and least advantaged.
Universities UK, which represents universities, said: ‘[We] are committed to widening access to higher education and ensuring the success of all students, regardless of their background.
‘Eighteen-year- olds from the most disadvantaged areas in England are more likely to go to university than ever before, but we know that disparities remain between different groups.’