The National Union of Students describes the record of Scottish
universities on admitting students from poorer backgrounds were awful. They
said older universities each typically recruit fewer than 100 students from
deprived backgrounds.
Students were classed as coming from a poorer background if they
grew up in one of the least affluent 20% of postcode districts.
St Andrews University admitted 13 students from these areas. It
teaches a total of 7,370 undergraduates.
Edinburgh and Aberdeen also recruited fewer than 100 students from
these "SIMD 20" districts.
Robin Parker of NUS Scotland said: "University places should
be given to those that have the most talent and potential.
"Unless institutions do more to widen access, they're missing
out on some of those with the most potential, that could get the best degrees,
and quite frankly, not doing their job properly.
Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, which represents
Scotland's higher education institutions, said universities were working
"hell for leather" to rectify the situation in terms of places for
students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
He told BBC Radio Scotland many of the inequalities in education
begin much earlier, in school or even pre-school.
He added: "If you look at the attainment of five-year-olds,
you find some absolutely shocking differences according to whether they're from
a challenged background of not.
"There's an 18 month attainment gap in verbal skills between
five-year-olds from the most privileged backgrounds and the most challenged
backgrounds, so there's a huge systemic issue for Scotland about making sure at
every stage along the line that we're helping people to realise their full potential."
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