Disappearing courses across the UK are fast becoming an urgent access issue as rising numbers of stay-at-home students find their choices constricted at their local university, it has been warned.
Many British institutions have been slimming down their programme offerings in an era of restricted finances while cost-of-living pressures in recent years have exacerbated an already growing trend for students to commute from their family home to study, particularly among lower socio-economic groups.
These factors have combined to create a “new geography of provision and equality”, according to Graeme Atherton, the director of the National Education Opportunities Network, whose recent report highlighted growing regional disparities in widening participation.
“The issue of what kind of provision is available in what places is one that really needs to come to the fore more,” he said. “It is concerning we are not having that discussion.”
