Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to increase the proportion of men going to university.

Joseph Johnson

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from higher education, irrespective of their background or gender.

In the last academic year we saw record numbers of applicants and entrants to higher education, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In our recent guidance to the Director of Fair Access, we asked him to include among his areas of focus support for white working class boys who are among the groups with the lowest participation rates. Universities expect to spend more than £745 million through access agreements agreed with the Director of Fair Access on measures to improve access and success for students from disadvantaged backgrounds – up significantly from £404 million in 2009.