The poor shut out of higher education

In some parts of Glasgow, a child is more likely to end up in prison than win a place at Glasgow University. In 2015, fewer than five students from Easterhouse, won a place at Glasgow University. That’s two fewer than the seven who were sent to Polmont Young Offenders Institution. These numbers give us a glimpse into the level of educational inequality in Scotland’s biggest city. Other working-class communities in Glasgow do equally badly. Fewer than five new students come from Bridgeton, in the east end, and seven from Possilpark. In each of the past four years, more young people from Possilpark, one of Glasgow’s most deprived neighbourhoods, have gone to jail than to Glasgow University.  In 2014, 17 new inmates at Polmont had a Possilpark postcode. That was more than three times the five students who made it to Glasgow University that year. Last year, seven of the university’s new undergraduates came from Possilpark; 10 young people from the area were imprisoned at Polmont.

More Glasgow University students come from the affluent south side community of Newton Mearns than anywhere else in Scotland. Last year, this prosperous suburb provided 57 undergraduates. It was closely followed by neighbouring Clarkston with 54 new students, and Bearsden, on the north of the city, with 52. Each of these well-to-do neighbourhoods sends more than 10 times as many young people to Glasgow University as Easterhouse.

Strathclyde University revealed that it admitted 103 first-year students from Newton Mearns last year and 102 from Bearsden, but just seven from Easterhouse.

Former Glasgow University student and cultural commentator Pat Kane describes how it is both a world-class and a local institution. "The other role it should play is as a symbol of aspiration for the ambitious, talented children of Glasgow, no matter what their background is. These figures show that it’s failing on that front - but it can’t in any way be entirely the blame of the institution itself. It matters hugely that, according to these statistics, Glasgow University is effectively closed off to so many kids from the poorer parts of the city."

Patrick Harvie, Glasgow MSP and co-convenor of the Scottish Greens, said: "Unequal access to higher education is a clear reflection of the deep inequality that tarnishes our society more generally.”