Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Education to help ensure that the proportion of white state-school educated students obtaining a place in higher education is raised to the same proportion as mixed heritage, Black, Asian and Chinese students.

There are still under-represented groups who are struggling to access Higher Education (HE), including white, working-class males.

Prior attainment is a key determinant of successful participation in HE.  When we account for this, we see reductions in the gaps between the most and least advantaged groups.

That is why we are refocusing the entire access and participation regime to drive up standards throughout the system – and we are asking universities to take a more direct role in doing this.

We are asking universities to raise standards in schools and colleges, offer flexible and skills-related courses, tackle drop-out rates, and support students throughout university and graduation into meaningful employment.

To increase aspiration and attainment a far greater focus needs to be placed on activities which benefit students, including summer schools, programmes of intervention in schools and targeted bursaries to assist with living costs.

An investment of up to £75 million has been announced to create a National Scholarship Scheme which will support high achieving disadvantaged students to reach their full potential.