More pupils reject higher education

The Government is struggling to meet its pledge to increase the number of students at university, new figures show. Ministers want 50 per cent of all school leavers to go into higher education by the end of the decade.

Department for Education figures show two thirds of the capital's boroughs reported a fall in the percentage of 18-year-olds accepted for entry to higher education.

The decline is being blamed on the uneven quality of education in the capital. Opposition MPs say rising student debts are also putting school leavers off applying to university. The average student now leaves higher education owing ?12,000.

Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for London and MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, said the figures were not encouraging for the Government. He added: "London's 33 councils are falling well behind the targets for university admission the Government has set. The boroughs that have slipped back need urgently to review what's happening."

Across Greater London, the number going to university dropped from 23.9 per cent in 2002 to

23.6 per cent last year. Although some boroughs such as Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Southwark and Lewisham saw the number of applicants rise, the majority have seen a marked fall.

In Richmond, the percentage going to university has dropped from 31.9 per cent in 1996 to 30.7 per cent; in Camden the figure has fallen from

24.5 per cent to 20.2 per cent; and in Kensington and Chelsea from 26.0 per cent in 1996 to 17.5 per cent.

Only five boroughs saw more than 30 per cent of their pupils go on to university and only one, Harrow, is close to achieving the Government's 50 per cent target. The acceptance rate in Harrow was

41.5 per cent. By contrast, Hackney saw only 12.9 per cent of pupils accepted for a place last year, a fall on its 2001 total of 14 per cent.

Westminster reported an acceptance rate of only 14.5 per cent, down from its 2002 total of 17 per cent, and Islington had 15 per cent - again a fall on its 2002 figures.

They are among 12 of the 34 boroughs in Greater London that saw fewer than 20 per cent of students accepted into higher education.

Mr Hughes said: "For London as a whole, we should perhaps be less obsessed about so many people going straight to university and realising that apprenticeships, training or work may be better career options for many of London's teenagers than driving them into university places that are not really best for them."

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "Standards in London schools are rising. This has meant more London students have had the grades to go to university.

"Over a longer period dating back to 1997, the percentage of London students going to university has increased by 16 per cent.

"That is a positive trend that we hope to see continuing over the next few years."