There is no evidence to date that widening university access is leading to young people from more affluent areas being squeezed out of higher education, says Scotland’s commissioner for fair access.
There has been concern that because the number of young people from more deprived backgrounds going to university is growing in Scotland, this is leading to young people from other backgrounds being displaced.
However, in an interview with Tes Scotland - and in his first report published today - the commissioner for fair access Professor John McKendrick, who was appointed Scotland’s second commissioner a year ago, insists “to date” this has not been the case.
He says: “It hasn’t been the case that the fair access agenda has prevented young people from affluent areas going to university. The evidence says ‘no’. There are particular degree programmes - you always get popular degree programmes - where not everybody is able to get access. That has always been the case and probably always will be.
“The favourite toy at Christmas, not everybody gets it because there’s a limited supply. So yes, in some cases some young people won’t get what they want, but the big picture is that fair access has not squeezed people out that are marginally less deprived, or those from the least deprived areas. That’s not the story so far.”
Today, Professor McKendrick’s first annual report - called Renewing the Alliance for Fair Access and the sixth commissioner report - reveals that in 2021-22 a record number of students from disadvantaged areas secured places at Scottish universities but the increase has not been at the expense of entrants from less deprived areas.
The report says this “may seem counterintuitive” but that it is happening because the number of entrants to university has increased across the board since 2013-14.
Figures in the report show that overall there was an increase of 5,600 in the number of entrants to higher education between 2013-14 and 2021-22, with 1,745 of those additional places going to those from the 20 per cent most deprived areas in Scotland and the rest spread across entrants from other backgrounds.
However, the report notes that: “Notwithstanding these progressive trends, there are 1.6 times more entrants from the least deprived areas, compared to the most deprived areas. There is room for improvement.”
It also adds: “Furthermore, concerns that the marginally less deprived may be ‘displaced’ are also, at present, unfounded. The relative share of both SIMD20 and SIMD20-40 has increased since 2013-14 (from 13.7 per cent to 16.5 per cent for the most deprived areas, and from 15.2 per cent to 16.8 per cent for SIMD20-40 areas).”
Widening access to higher education
Now the Scottish government has made it clear that it plans to cut 1,200 university places in 2024-25, removing the extra places put in when school qualification pass rates increased during the pandemic.
McKendrick says he does not expect this to impact the widening access agenda but that the record high hit in 2021-22 in terms of the number of students from disadvantaged areas securing places at Scottish universities is unlikely to be replicated in future years.
He says: “If there are fewer places then it’s very unlikely you’re going to get these record numbers again so unless there is a dramatic shift that we don’t expect in terms of qualification levels logic would tell you that the numbers will go down.”
But even though numbers increased in 2021-22, the actual proportion of entrants from the most deprived backgrounds decreased slightly.
The Scottish government has set itself the goal that, by 2030, students from the 20 per cent most deprived backgrounds should represent 20 per cent of entrants to higher education.
The interim target of 16 per cent of higher education entrants coming from the 20 per cent most deprived backgrounds by 2021 was hit early but McKendrick says these figures have started to “flatline”.
The report says that progress towards the next interim target “has stalled” and if current trends continue it “will not be achieved”.
In 2013-14 just 13.7 per cent of entrants to higher education came from the 20 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland. By 2021-22 that had grown to 16.5 per cent but that is down on the previous year when the proportion was 16.7 per cent.
‘We need to up the pace’
Going forward, McKendrick says that Scotland can be proud of what has been achieved in terms of widening access to higher education but that “we need to up that pace”.
He also says that as well as getting young people from deprived backgrounds into university, there needs to be a focus on making sure they thrive while they are there, and also when they leave.
Today’s report says: “Fair access must continue to focus on entry to higher education. However, there is a need to recalibrate the focus to take account of experience and outcomes.”
In terms of schools, McKendrick, who is also a professor of social justice at Glasgow Caledonian University, says that he would like to see earlier engagement with pupils and their families so they start to think of university as “something that is within reach”.
He says that much of the focus of formal widening access work has been in the senior phase of secondary but there is a need to start earlier and for the seeds of ambition to be planted in primary school.
Closing the poverty-related attainment gap
He also questions if the teachers in school advising young people have the most up-to-date information on “the range of options that are out there” in terms of “the articulation of college into university” and what the 19 different higher education institutions in Scotland have to offer.
“We need to get those in schools truly understanding the range of options that are out there so they can get that best advice to the kids,” he says.
Of course, the long-term ambition of the Scottish government to narrow the attainment gap between those from deprived and affluent backgrounds also feeds into the ambition to widen access to higher education.
The report says poverty and the poverty-related attainment gap “persist at unacceptably high levels, despite the good intentions to work toward reduction, if not eradication”.
But McKendrick says closing the gap “absolutely has to happen if you’re going to truly have fair access because it allows kids to better realise their potential and demonstrate their potential”.
For the latest Scottish education news, analysis and features delivered directly to your inbox, sign up to Tes magazine’s The Week in Scotland newsletter
