Publications

This paper considers the role that schools have in determining whether school leavers participate in higher education or not. It examines the association between schools and university participation using a unique dataset of 3 cohorts of all young people leaving maintained schools in Wales. School “effects” are identified, even after controlling for individual-level factors, such…

Patterns of participation in higher education (HE) in the UK, as elsewhere, have been marked by social inequalities for decades. UK Governments have responded with a plethora of policies and agendas aimed at addressing this broad social issue. However, little is known about how higher education institutions (HEIs) interpret and ‘enact’ these policies in relation…

Participation in higher education (HE hereafter) has increased dramatically during the latter part of the 20th century. The latest HEFCE research indicates that since the late 1990s, the rate of HE participation among young people has increased from 30 to 38 per cent (HEFCE, 2013:2). However, while participation has increased, concerns regarding unequal access to…

This report presents the principal findings and policy implications of a research project carried out by researchers from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD), funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW). The broad aims of the research…

This paper aims to replicate analysis conducted by Chowdry et al. (2013) which considers the determinants of participation in higher education (HE) in England. Using linked individual level data, for both participants and non-participants in HE, Chowdry et al. track 2 cohorts of young people from age 11 through to age 20. They demonstrate that…

The quantitative strand of the project will use a linked database of school and student records that has already been prepared by the Welsh Government. This database (subsequently referred to as the Widening Access Database) is based upon four linked administrative data-sets: the National Pupil Database (NPD) for Wales (including Pupil Level Annual Schools Census…

A presentation introducing the project.

Access to higher education (HE) has become an extremely controversial area of policy, as successive UK administrations have sought to balance increasing student fees with ensuring that HE is open to individuals from as wide a range of social backgrounds as possible. There have also been numerous initiatives that have sought to increase participation by…