As every reader of this blog almost certainly knows, access to higher education, particularly to the more selective universities and the most popular courses, remains one of the greatest areas of inequality in the United Kingdom.
In 2001, Prime Minister Tony Blair famously declared, ‘education, education, education’ to be the key to raising aspirations and bringing about societal change. His government set a goal of 50 per cent of young people, aged 17 to 30, entering university by 2010.
While Government data in 2019 confirmed that this had been achieved, the progression rate by the age of 19 is 44.4 per cent and in some groups, the percentages remain very low. For those who receive free school meals, the progression rate is 28.1 per cent.
This year, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change called for the overall percentage to rise to 70 per cent by 2040. Its report states that this would bring us in alignment with other high-innovation economies such as Japan and Canada, where more than two thirds are now entering higher education.
