University six times more likely for richer students

Young people from the poorest parts of Britain still face huge barriers to going to university, a major study reports today.

The research - the most extensive of its kind ever conducted - found a "deep and persistent" divide between rich and poor.

Students from the most affluent neighbourhoods are up to six times more likely to enter higher education than those from the poorest. The Higher Education Funding Council for England found participation rates for those aged 18-19 hardly changed from 1994 to 2000.

Most new university places that had been created were taken by students from the wealthier areas.