It provides an analysis of:

  • Widening access policy levers (Section 1);
  • UCAS headline data on applications, acceptances and entry rates by students from different social backgrounds across the UK (Sections 2 and 3);
  • Higher education initial participation rates (HEIPR) in Scotland and the rest of the UK (Section 4);
  • UK differences in participation rates with regard to type of university and social background using HESA data (Section 5);
  • Cross-UK institutional comparisons using HESA benchmarks (Section 6)
  • Widening participation activity and debates in Scottish higher education institutions, particularly the ancient universities (Section 7).

This report is written by Elisabet Weedon, Gitit Kadar-Satat, Lucy Hunter Blackburn and Sheila Riddell.