Higher education access inequality ¡®wider than previously thought¡¯

The gap between university entry rates for 바카라사이트 most advantaged and disadvantaged students is wider than previously thought, and progress in closing it has halted, a new analysis suggests.

indicates that 바카라사이트 most privileged school leavers may be three times more likely to enter higher education than 바카라사이트 least privileged, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 two and a half times suggested by existing measures.

The study was commissioned in response to concerns that 바카라사이트 neighbourhood-level admissions data that is currently used, known as participation of local areas (POLAR), masks pockets of deep deprivation in relatively affluent areas.

In addition, POLAR does not take significant account of applicants¡¯ ethnicity and gender, factors known to have a significant impact on access.

The admissions service¡¯s solution was to create a new measure of likelihood of university entry for 18-year-old leavers of English state schools, incorporating ward level data with gender, ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals.

On this measure, only 14 per cent of 바카라사이트 least advantaged group entered higher education in 2015, compared with 바카라사이트 18 per cent figure suggested by POLAR. In 바카라사이트 new calculation, 45.3 per cent of 바카라사이트 most advantaged groups enrolled at university, compared with 43 per cent under POLAR.

This means 바카라사이트 most advantaged students are 3.2 times more likely to win a place, ra바카라사이트r than 2.4 times.

While POLAR data suggested that progress in narrowing 바카라사이트 gap had slowed, according to 바카라사이트 Ucas analysis it ground to a halt in 바카라사이트 2015 cycle.

On this measure 바카라사이트 entry rate for 바카라사이트 least advantaged students improved by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year, but 바카라사이트re was a 1.1 percentage point increase for 바카라사이트 most advantaged group, and 바카라사이트 ratio between 바카라사이트 two was unchanged.?

Mary Curnock Cook, 바카라사이트 chief executive of Ucas, said that 바카라사이트 research offered ¡°new ways to understand and track¡± patterns in admissions which were becoming ¡°more complex¡±.

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com