White Teens Less Likely To Apply To University Than Any Other Ethnic Group, Says UCAS
White teenagers are less likely to apply to university than youngsters from any other ethnic group, according to research.
The statistics come in a UCAS report looking at the demand for university courses, based on applications made by March 24.
The findings show that 29% of white, state-educated 18-year-olds in England applied by the March deadline this year, compared with more than 50% of those from a Chinese background and 40% for those from an Asian ethnic group. Application rates for black 18-year-olds have risen from 20% in 2006 to 34% this year, the report says.
Children with an Asian heritage are more likely to go to university than white youngsters
“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.
“There are eye-catching regional variations in demand, with the North of England generally showing higher growth rates than the South.”
Around two thirds of Asian students and students of ‘other’ ethnic groups went on to university, compared to 61 per cent of black students, 52 per cent of those from mixed backgrounds, and 46 per cent of white students.
These local authorities are Merton, Sandwell, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, East Riding of Yorkshire, North East Lincolnshire, Milton Keynes, East Sussex, Portsmouth, Southampton, Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire, Reading, Halton, Isle of Wight and Northumberland.
However in Trafford, Manchester, Kirklees and Stockport at least 10 per cent of FSM pupils were admitted to one of the 20 institutions that were part of the Russell Group in 2010/11.
The Russell Group said its universities were “committed to ensuring our doors are wide open” to students from all backgrounds, with the potential and ability to succeed, but added that under-achievement at school, and a lack of good advice were partly responsible for fewer poor students attending the institutions.
Saad Saraf
www.thinkethnic.com
