Writing for the Times, Nicola Woolcock reports on the Sutton Trust’s Independent Commission on Fees report into student debt.

Tuition fees have widened the gender gap with ever more girls going to university, according to a report published today.

A third of young women aged 18 begin degrees at university, compared with a quarter of their male counterparts. The gap is widening fastest among teenagers from poor backgrounds, potentially leaving behind swathes of disadvantaged young men without jobs or a degree.

Girls from less affluent homes are almost 50 per cent more likely to get into university than their male peers.

While there was a 5 percentage point gap between the number of teenage boys and girls from the poorest neighbourhoods going to university in 2010, this had widened to 7 points last year, with 14.7 per cent of boys and 21.8 per cent of girls taking higher education.

The report, by the Independent Commission on Fees, warns that “hard-working grafters” will pay more for their student debt than those on low incomes and those with rich parents.

Read the full article here.(£)

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