Universities slammed for not recruiting poorer students

The Herald 01 June 2018

Ministers in Scotland have blamed the universities for failing to recruit more students from poorer backgrounds – the attack coming after new figures showed a decline in the proportion of successful applicants from the most disadvantaged areas, writes Andrew Denholm for The Herald.

A report by the Scottish Funding Council found 13.8% of those starting full-time degrees in 2016-17 were from the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods – down from 14% the previous year.

The Scottish government has set a target to increase the figure to at least 16% by 2021 with the ultimate goal of achieving 20% by 2030. Shirley-Anne Somerville, the higher education minister, said: “These figures are a stark reminder of why this government was right to take the action we did on widening access.”
Full report on The Herald Scotland site

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