Bid to boost university intake from poorer areas

An initiative to boost the number of youngsters from deprived communities in Scotland’s universities should provide a “step change in knowledge” on how to achieve that goal.

The new Framerwork for Fair Access has been hailed as a “significant milestone” towards the ambition of making sure those from poorer areas have the same chance of going to university as students from more affluent parts of Scotland.

A new website will provide evidence on what can be done to increase access.

In addition a new forum, called Scotland’s Community of Access and Participation Practitioners, has been set up to share best practice. The latest figures show 15.6 per cent of fulltime undergraduate students starting university come from 20 per cent of the most deprived backgrounds.