Universities urged to double down on access and support for poorest students

Universities must redouble their efforts to improve both access and outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds as educational and economic inequalities widen, according to new guidance published today by the Sutton Trust.

This comes as our new analysis shows that poorer students have the most to gain from getting a degree:

• The graduate earnings premium is larger for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Graduates who were eligible for free school meals (FSM) earn 55% more than non-graduates from a similar background. This compares to a 43% premium for non-FSM graduates.
• A university degree also narrows class pay gaps. Attending university halves the FSM earnings gap for those receiving the same GCSE grades from 19% to 9%.
• Previous Sutton Trust research also found that graduates experience higher wellbeing than non-graduates, regardless of financial outcomes, highlighting benefits beyond earnings.

Despite rising numbers of students attending university overall, DfE data shows that there is still a 20-percentage point gap in university access in England between FSM students and those from better off homes – a figure that has not changed in two decades. And less than 5% of FSM students enter the elite ‘high tariff’ institutions where the labour market rewards are greatest.

The Sutton Trust’s new best practice guide for universities highlights the socio-economic gaps in both admissions and students’ experience, and outlines priorities for change. It provides university staff at all levels with practical advice on outreach activities, admissions, supporting transitions and measures to help students succeed throughout their studies, including into postgraduate level if they choose.

The guide calls for responsibility to be shared across university leadership, academic departments and services, as Jon Datta, Head of University Access Programmes and Sector Engagement at the Sutton Trust explains:

“Many widening participation teams are working hard to improve access but they can’t remove barriers alone. Decisions about teaching, accommodation, financial support and careers also shape students’ experiences and their ability to succeed. It’s therefore vital that all university teams are pulling in the same direction.”

The Sutton Trust also recommends more ambitious use of contextual admissions, including reduced entry requirements. The best practice guide published today builds on previous joint guidance on contextual admissions with Universities UK and UCAS, published as part of the Access to Success project earlier this year.

Long-standing challenges in access are now compounded by rising living costs for students and maintenance support loans that have not kept pace. Students from less well-off homes interviewed as part of a focus group for the Sutton Trust describe a range of challenges including difficulty finding financial support and balancing paid work with their studies. Some also said that academic staff did not always understand the financial and social realities facing students from low-income backgrounds.

While the student finance system overall needs reform, universities can still help. The guide calls on them to make financial support more timely, clearly explained and easy to access for those facing financial difficulties.

Meanwhile, with graduate job vacancies falling, students from less advantaged backgrounds often start on the back foot when seeking employment, in comparison to peers who may have better contacts or access to more opportunities. To combat this, the authors argue that universities have a vital role to play in widening access to careers, networks and wider work experience, ensuring that student success is built into the core university experience.

Commenting, Nick Harrison, CEO of the Sutton Trust, said:

“A degree can change the course of a life, and it makes the biggest impact for young people from poorer backgrounds. Yet they remain far less likely to get one. The access gap hasn’t narrowed in twenty years. That’s not acceptable. Every time a bright young person is held back by money, by a lack of support, or because nobody saw what they could do, the country loses talent it can’t afford to waste.

“Universities are working hard despite financial pressures, but doing more of the same is no longer enough. We need to turn that commitment into a breakthrough, via admissions policies bold enough to spot potential, financial support that arrives when students need it, and clear routes into good jobs. Every institution has a part to play and together we can make the next twenty years look very different from the last.”