The gap in completion rates between disadvantaged students in England and their more advantaged peers has risen to record levels, figures show.
The Office for Students (OfS), which published the data, said universities could not afford to think “job done” when students from under-represented groups entered higher education if the issue was to be properly addressed.
The annual release shows that of those who entered higher education in 2017-18, 82.5 per cent of full-time undergraduates who had been eligible for free school meals completed their course, compared with 90.8 per cent of their more privileged peers.
This gap of 8.3 percentage points was the highest since comparable records began in 2012-13, and almost double the difference of just five years ago.
