Dr Richard Boffey, Head of AccessHE at London Higher said:
“Looking at the data in this report, London can be seen as a widening access success story. But digging deeper into the evidence reveals persistent access gaps for FSM students in the capital, and in some London boroughs, a very slow rate of progress in widening participation in HE over the last decade. The capital’s high overall rate of HE progression should rightly be celebrated, but a focus for any future collaborative outreach initiative here should be to target the intra-regional access gaps that prevent educational opportunity from being evenly distributed across London.
At London Higher, we are turning our attention to the next decade of widening access work in the capital, which is the subject of our AccessHE division’s upcoming conference, Equality of Opportunity in London HE: 2030 and Beyond. It promises to be a timely event and one that picks up the gauntlet thrown down by today’s NEON report. Register here to be part of the discussions: https://londonhigher.ac.uk/event/equality-of-opportunity-in-london-he-2030-and-beyond/”
Dr Diana Beech, CEO of London Higher added:
“Today’s NEON report is a tale of my two cities. Coming from the ‘HE cold spot’ of Hereford, where progression to higher education for those on FSM is less than 15 per cent, yet living in the ‘HE hot spot’ of London where FSM-progression as a whole is highest means I have a more nuanced view than most on the need to break down regional inequalities in widening participation.
While more clearly needs to be done to ensure pupils from low participation areas know that higher education is an option for them and are supported to enrol, high participation areas are certainly not a ‘done deal’. Impressive progression statistics risk masking intra-regional disparities. These could worsen if successful outreach efforts like London’s Uni Connect programme are not supported and sustained.”
