White teenagers 'less likely to apply to university'

By Graeme Paton, Education Editor

Fewer than three-in-10 white teenagers have lodged applications to start degree courses this autumn amid growing concerns over access to higher education, it emerged. 

Figures show that white pupils are now around half as likely to strive for university as school-leavers from Chinese families. 

It was also revealed that applications from black teenagers have increased by 70 per cent over the last seven years, with more than a third now attempting to get on to a degree course. 

The disclosure is made in a report that lays bear the extent to which children’s gender, socio-economic background, ethnicity and postcode has an impact on their chance of applying to university. 

Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) shows a widening gulf in access between men and women, with young women almost a third more likely to push for a degree place. 

It also emerged that students from the wealthiest areas are more than four times as likely to apply to top universities as those from the poorest postcodes, despite a narrowing in the divide over the last decade. 

The conclusions will prompt fresh concerns over the impact that social background has on children’s chances of doing well at school and progressing onto a good university or well-paid career. 

Last year, Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, said problems were particularly acute among boys raised in poor white families where an “anti-school culture” has been allowed to develop in recent decades. 

According to the latest figures, just 29 per cent of white school-leavers – those aged 18 – applied to university this year. This compared with 34 per cent of black pupils, 41 per cent of those from Asian families and almost 57 per cent of teenagers from Chinese backgrounds. 

The largest increase in application rates came from black pupils, with numbers now rising beyond a third compared with just 20 per cent in 2006. 

In all, 44 per cent of all pupils apply to university by the time they turn 19, with application rates up on a year earlier when the imposition of £9,000 annual tuition fees for the first time had a major impact on demand. 

But significant differences still remain between the sexes. 

UCAS said 49 per cent of women and just 38 per cent of men are now pushing for a university place and “this difference is slightly larger” than in recent years. 

Application rates are also skewed significantly by parental income. Well over half of teenagers from the wealthiest areas applied this year compared with less than a fifth from the poorest postcodes. 

UCAS insisted the gulf between the two groups had narrowed in recent years, although the wealthiest were still 2.7 times more likely to apply to any university, rising to 4.3 times when looking at applications to the most sought-after institutions. 

It also emerged that: 

• 18-year-olds from London were the most likely to want to study for a degree, with 42 per cent applying this year, compared with just 31 per cent from the North East; 

• Some 73 per cent of students are applying to university courses charging maximum £9,000 tuition fees this year, up from just 59 per cent a year earlier, when fees were increased to this level for the first time; 

• Figures suggest a flight to quality, with applications for “high tariff” universities – those that demand the highest A-level entry grades – up by three per cent, compared with 1 per cent for lower tariff institutions. 

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “These figures confirm that the desire to study at university remains strong, with application rates for 18-year-olds at near record levels. 

"Some challenges remain but no one should be put off going to university for financial reasons. 

“Our reforms mean students do not have to pay fees upfront, there is more financial support for those from poorer families and everyone faces lower loan repayments once they are in well-paid jobs.” 

Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS chief executive said: “Young application rates for higher education are rising again after falls in 2012 and the gap between rich and poor is closing as disadvantaged groups are applying at record levels. 

“Our new analysis of demand by ethnic group shows that white pupils at English schools now have the lowest application rate of any ethnic group. There has been significant growth in demand from black pupils.”