Scotland’s disadvantaged face ‘powerful discrimination’

Report from independent commissioner finds barriers to postgraduate study

Students from the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland are significantly less likely to study at postgraduate level than their socially advantaged peers, according to a report from the country’s commissioner for fair access.

According to Peter Scott’s paper, Access to Postgraduate Study: Representation and Destinations, the gap is partly explained by the fact that the most socially deprived students are more likely to study subjects where fewer students overall progress to postgraduate courses. However, this “begs the question of why they are underrepresented in higher-status subjects where postgraduate progression rates are higher,” the report concludes.