The gap between the proportion of disadvantaged pupils accessing university compared with more advantaged peers has widened since the Covid pandemic, analysis of A-level results has shown.
According to the Department for Education, this year saw 180,000 18-year-old students guaranteed their first choice of university, the most on record and a 20 per cent increase on 2019, when exams were last sat.
This includes a record 23,220 disadvantaged 18-year-olds set to go to university this year, added the DfE.
