Record participation in higher education

16th April 2013

Participation in higher education among young Scots has reached a record high according to figures released today by the Scottish Funding Council.

The report, which measures participation of initial entrants to higher education, also shows that Scottish participation remains higher than in England, and the participation of 16 to 19 year olds is also at a record high.

Key findings include:

In 2011-12, the higher education participation rate for those aged 16 to 30 increased to 56.1 per cent, from 55.6 per cent in 2010-11, up from 53.2 in 2006-07
The participation rate for those aged 16 to 19 rose from 42.3 per cent in 2010-11 to 43.8 per cent in 2011-12
The higher education participation rate is consistently higher in Scotland compared to England. The English rate is provisionally at 46.5 per cent for 2010-11 compared with 55.6 per cent in Scotland.

Minister for Youth Employment Angela Constance said:�On the same day that we have seen, yet again, that Scotland has lower unemployment and higher employment amongst our young people compared to the UK, I am delighted to see record rates of participation in higher education among younger people in Scotland. The participation rate in Scotland is also considerably higher than in England and these record figures reinforce the Scottish Government�s belief that education should be based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay and reflect the high esteem in which Scottish higher education is held globally.

�While the gap between participation in the most and least deprived areas has narrowed over the last five years, it is clear that more needs to be done to widen access to higher education. Our institutions have made significant progress in this area, but the Post 16 Education Bill will provide a legislative basis to make further strides in this area.

�We have also invested a further �10 million in additional places for the coming academic year to widen access, with a particular emphasis on helping more college students take up university places. Our continuing work in this area will help ensure that every young person in Scotland can maximise their potential and be in the best possible position to find a job at the end of their studies.�