Karin Smyth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karin Smyth on 2016-06-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the higher education entry rate data, published in December 2015, what steps his Department is taking to increase the rate of entry to university from young people in (a) Bristol South constituency and (b) other areas that have a low rate of university entry.

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.

In the last academic year we saw record entry rates to higher education, including among those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Since 2010, we have established a stronger framework, with increased responsibility placed on higher education institutions to widen participation. The Director of Fair Access has agreed 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17 containing an estimated £745m to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds – up from £404m in 2009/10.

In addition, we will take steps through the Higher Education and Research Bill to widen access and participation further. This will include strengthening the system of access agreements, and introducing new transparency duties on higher education institutions. We have also asked Universities UK to form a Social Mobility Advisory Group to set out what further steps the higher education sector itself can take to promote social mobility.