Williamson: Improve access to tackle ‘wasted potential’

Universities have been told by education secretary Gavin Williamson that they must “up their game” on access and participation.

On 26 September, Williamson said universities should “get on with it” and take action to recruit more students from disadvantaged backgrounds and bring down the dropout rate for these students once at university.

He was speaking after data published by the Office for Students (OfS) on 25 September show that state-educated students from the most advantaged areas are 2.4 times more likely to go to university compared with state-educated pupils from the most disadvantaged areas.