Access to higher education reports

10 August 2017

Commenting on the publication of reports by the Sutton Trust and OFFA about fair access to higher education, Russell Group Head of Policy Jessica Cole said:

“It is important that no young person with the talent and ability to study at university is deterred by the cost. Students need to have access to the right information to inform their decisions.

“No student has to pay for their undergraduate tuition costs upfront and they will only start to repay student loans when they are in a job and earning over £21,000 a year. However, there are areas that could be looked at to see how the system might be made fairer for students, such as the interest rates on student loans and the repayment threshold.

“The number of young people going to university, including those from the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, continues to increase.

“This is really positive, but our universities recognise there is more work to be done. This is why Russell Group universities will spend more than £250m this year on activities designed to encourage successful applications from students from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds.”

Notes:

The Sutton Trust report is available here.

OFFA's publication is available here.

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