'Children from richest areas are twice as likely to go to university'

Children who live in England's most affluent areas are twice as likely to go onto university after they finish at school, secondary school staff might be interested to hear.

Having reviewed data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Conservative Party has argued that the government is wasting money on its current initiatives to get more kids into higher education.

"Going to university should be about academic ability, not where you were born," says the shadow universities secretary David Willets.

According to the ONS data, in the poorest ten per cent of areas only three in ten children go on to study at university.

The government hopes to increase university attendance, but according to the Higher Education Policy Institute its target of 50 per cent attendance is unachievable.





Published On 29/05/2009