Poorer students are less aspirational in their choice of university and more likely to try to stay close to home than their wealthier peers, new research reveals.
Data unveiled for the first time at an Evening Standard forum organised to find ways to widen participation at university, found teenagers from a disadvantaged background are 11 per cent more likely to only consider universities within 50 miles of their home.
It means they could miss out on choosing the university that is best for them, experts said.
The research, carried out by Unifrog which jointly hosted the forum, also found that poorer students in London and the South-East are six percentage points less likely to choose a university course where the entry requirements are the same or higher than their predicted grades – suggesting they are less aspirational in their choices.
The data is based on information about more than 200,000 Year 13 students who are due to leave school next year.
The results were revealed to experts from the world of education who gathered at the Evening Standard’s Liverpool Street headquarters to identify how to improve access to university for more students.
