University of Portsmouth committed to making higher education accessible to disadvantaged youngsters

Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency showed that in 2018/19 of the 4,580 students aged under 21 who started a full-time undergraduate course at the university, 725 were from places in the UK where relatively few young adults go into higher education.

This constitutes 15.8 per cent of that year’s intake, significantly higher than the 11.4 per cent average across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The university was one of the few to buck the national trend with universities across the country generally seeing a fall in their intake of disadvantaged students.

The university says the figures show its ethos of inclusivity and vice-chancellor, Professor Graham Galbraith’s effort to widen student intake.

Professor Galbraith said: ‘These figures reflect our commitment to recruit on the basis of potential to benefit from what we have to offer rather than to confer a badge of honour on those who happened to go to good schools.

‘I simply do not believe that young people from more privileged parts of the country have more potential than those from places in the UK where relatively few young adults go into higher education, including here in Portsmouth.

‘In 2017, about 25 per cent of 18-year-olds in Portsmouth applied to university – in Wimbledon the figure was 70 per cent. If we do not reduce this disparity we will be letting our young people down.’

The proportion of disadvantaged students starting courses at the University of Portsmouth has increased every year since 2015/16 when they accounted for 13.3 per cent of intake.

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With some universities accepting less than five per cent of students from areas of deprivation the issue is a concern for the Office for Students, England's higher education watchdog.

Director for fair access and participation, Chris Millward, said: ‘The reality is that each year thousands of people with the ability to excel in higher education are missing out.’

The UK's most selective institutions have agreed tough targets with the watchdog for the next five years and those failing to make progress could face sanctions, including financial penalties.