University challenged

SCHOOL-leavers living in parts of Oldham are less likely to go to university than anywhere else in the country, independent research has revealed.

Only 5.5 per cent of youngsters in parts of St Mary’s ward, where almost half of households are on low incomes, made it on to higher education — one of the worst records in the country.

Just below that were teenagers living in parts of Failsworth West, where 7.7 per cent of youngsters go on to higher education, according to the Office of National Statistics. No other council wards across the borough featured in the 500 worst or best areas.

The Tories seized on the report as proof that Labour was failing to widen access to education to the most deprived young people, despite ploughing more than £2 billion a year on bridging the gap.

Shadow Innovation, Universities and Skills Secretary David Willetts said: “These statistics reveal the scandal of low social mobility in Britain today.

“Going to university should be about academic ability not where you were born. Millions of pounds have been spent on widening access but we have not seen the results to match.”

Universities Secretary John Denham said: “Raising the aspirations of young people is vital to overturning the generations of disadvantage that affects some of our country’s young people.

“And it is working. Our policy of fully-funded expansion of higher education has seen by far the biggest increases in those going to university in the poorest constituencies in the country.

“This year, the number of young people going to university from poorer backgrounds rose by 8 per cent, compared to a 3.8 per cent rise for those from more privileged backgrounds.”