Regional Disparities in Higher Education: A Guide for Widening Participation Professionals

Regional disparities and inequalities won’t be a new concept for higher education professionals. The significant economic inequalities exist among towns, cities and regions in the UK; in fact, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) found that the country has some of the greatest regional inequalities among the 38 members of the OECD. With such stark differences in wealth and resources, young people are faced with different opportunities and educational outcomes depending on which region they are born or grow up in.

As a result, geographical inequality is a key issue for professionals working in widening participation in higher education in the UK. Whether it’s trying to increase awareness of and access to higher education institutions for students from deprived areas, or working to support the progression and enhance the outcomes of those students following graduation, widening participation teams have an important role to play in tackling regional disparities of access and opportunity.

In this guide, we outline the status of regional inequalities in the England and what that means for widening participation professionals working in higher education. We highlight how access, progression and outcomes are influenced by geographical differences and then explore how raising attainment activities and meaningful engagement with local employers might offer potential solutions.

The Context: What Are Regional Inequalities and How Do They Affect Higher Education?

Geography plays an important role in how individuals access, experience and benefit from higher education in the UK. A 2022 brief by the Office for Students (OfS) outlines how the rate of entry to HE varies by location in England, as does the availability of graduate-level employment opportunities.

Within this brief, some salient points that all widening participation professionals should be aware of include:

The lowest participation is HE is found in coastal and ex-industrial towns, and many of the young people in these places have characteristics that are underrepresented in HE at large (e.g., white pupils on free school meals).
Across England, 42.2% of young people from state schools enter HE by the age of 19, but this varies by region. The highest entry rate is found in London (54.2%) and the lowest in the South West (37.4%).
Looking at large regions obscures intra-regional disparities, where entry rates can vary significantly even within the same city.
Employment and economic growth have long been geographically uneven, but this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Average earnings for graduates differ dramatically by region; on average, graduates in the North East earn £29,000 compared with £40,000 in London.
Students who move away from home to attend university are more likely to be white, middle-class and privately educated; meanwhile, those who do not move for study or after graduation are more likely to have been eligible for FSM.

These headline trends show the complex ways in which regional disparities affect how young people access and progress through and from higher education institutions.

The statistics also reveal the influence of early years education on access and outcomes for young people from different regions of England. By GCSE level, pupils in London were more likely to have achieved 5 good grades than those from the midlands.

What these findings reveal is that it is not higher education alone that is creating inequality of opportunity across England; in fact, local government, schooling, business and many more factors also have a significant influence. As such, it’s important that, when trying to tackle regional inequality, HEIs take a collaborative approach that brings together other relevant stakeholders. If it’s not a problem that is made by HE alone, it won’t be one that HE alone can fix.

Strategies: What Can Higher Education Institutions Do?

Universities and colleges are well placed to combat geographical inequalities. Many institutions are connected to schools in their local area and run programmes to raise attainment and aspirations. Similarly, the ability of HE to support the retraining and upskilling of the workforce can undoubtedly support regional economies and businesses.

Below, we outline two major strategies universities can pursue to tackle regional equalities: interventions to raise attainment and meaningful engagement with employers. At the heart of both of these strategies is partnership working with communities to respond sufficiently to the complex ways in which regional inequalities affect access to and progression from higher education.

1. Interventions to raise attainment

Following recent regulatory changes, the OfS now requires higher education providers to demonstrate in their Access and Participation Plans how they are working with schools, colleges, community and third sector organisations to deliver attainment raising activities. As a result, higher education providers must deliver attainment raising activities as part of their widening participation agenda.

Activities to raise attainment are also crucial to the challenge of combatting geographical disparities for two major reasons. Firstly, they tackle the issue at one of its root causes: early years education. As the OfS identified in their 2022 brief, the quality of early years education and subsequent attainment for pupils varies significantly by region due to a range of factors. So, by intervening early and supporting school pupils from different regions to achieve and potentially aspire towards higher education, universities can work towards levelling out geographical inequalities in access to higher education.

Secondly, by engaging in activities that raise attainment, universities can target specific geographical areas and provide relevant, supportive information about higher education that makes it seem like a viable option for pupils in that area.

There are plenty of examples across the sector of higher education providers working with schools and their local communities to deliver excellent activities to raise attainment. Many, with the support of TASO, have developed Theories of Change (ToCs) for pre-16 attainment raising initiatives, including:

Scholars+, King’s College London’s GCSE Maths and English tutoring programme which also includes wellbeing support and study skills sessions
The University of Chester’s Teacher Research Group (TRG) model, which sees the university work with schools in the Chesire region to design and develop research-informed lessons
The Aspire to Aston Progression Programme at Aston University which supports pupils with limited awareness of higher education to better understand pathways and make informed decisions
Similarly, the OfS has supported universities and colleges to deliver attainment raising activities through its Uni Connect programme. A prominent example is the University of Oxford’s Oxplore-RAIS programme, which delivers professional development and learning for teachers, learner delivery days and embeds enrichment in the classroom. You can read more about this activity on HE Professional.

Across these examples, the key to success is to work collaboratively and in symbiotic partnership with schools and local communities, rather than delivering programmes from a top-down approach. Similarly, taking an evidence-based approach which includes data informed by area-based measures as well as characteristics, such as free school meals (FSM) and ethnicity, can help ensure your activity is having its desired impact.

Here are some further helpful resources on raising attainment in schools:

2. Meaningful engagement with employers in local regions

Like raising attainment, higher education providers are also being increasingly judged on their ability to deliver good employment outcomes for their students with the introduction of new metrics such as Graduate Outcomes data.

And, as the OfS brief demonstrates, the availability of good graduate jobs and outcomes is not evenly spread across England. So, the ability of institutions to support students to access these opportunities is crucial to how they tackle regional disparities. Universities can therefore play an important role by working with employers to bring them together with students, not only supporting enhanced outcomes for their students but also helping to support these local economies to prosper.

It’s not enough to simply reach out to employers and maintain relationships with them; you have to ensure that the engagement is meaningful and impactful. So, what does this look like? Thankfully, there are many examples of great partnership working with employers across the sector where universities are working to provide enhanced graduate outcomes for their students in their local region. Some notable examples include:

The University of East Anglia’s Gateway to Growth programme, in which the university worked with local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to connect them with graduates, including tailored career advice and an internship programme.
Kingston University is working with Fulham Football Club to deliver careers-focused activities and internships, as well as professional development opportunities for staff at the club and a pilot AccessHE programme.
The University of Warwick has established the Warwick Innovation District (WID), which brings together academics, businesses, founders and investors to start businesses whilst creating work experience opportunities for students. WID focuses on a range of sectors, including creative and digital, deep tech innovation, and health and wellbeing.

Like the interventions based around raising attainment, the common denominator in these initiatives is that universities and employers work as equal partners to deliver these programmes. The example of Kingston University is particularly insightful as it shows how the institution is able to raise awareness of the benefits of a degree to otherwise hard to reach groups affected by regional inequalities, whilst also offering benefits to the football club that simultaneously create opportunities for their graduates.

And here are some helpful resources you can turn to when developing an approach to employer engagement that aims to tackle regional inequalities:

Creating Pathways, Enhancing Outcomes

This guide has explored how regional inequalities in England uniquely affect higher education providers. As our overview has shown, the issue of geographical disparities is complex with multiple stakeholders, so there is no one-size-fits-all or top-down solution that will help students to enter, thrive and progress from higher education regardless of where they grow up. The examples we have drawn on show how partnership working in crucial to the work to tackle regional inequalities, and how raising attainment in schools and engaging meaningfully with local employers can deliver this.

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