Widening participation flatlines with no improvement in four years

Proportion of students from state schools and low-participation areas sees little change

The Office for Students has warned that “thousands” of students are missing out on university as the proportion from state schools and disadvantaged areas has plateaued for another year.

Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency released on 13 February show that 11.4 per cent of full-time young undergraduates in the UK in 2018-19 were from areas with low participation in higher education, according to the POLAR4 measure.