Access for All

July 8, 2013

New research and policy analysis on young people feeling deterred from university by the cost.

With the introduction and increases in tuition fees over the last decade for higher education in England, policymakers have become more interested in which young people may feel deterred from university by the cost, and why.

However, the evidence base on drivers of financial concerns has always been limited in breadth and detail. To expand this evidence base, the Strategic Society Centre undertook detailed quantitative analysis on young people with financial concerns about the cost of university, using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England.

  • Access for All: An investigation of young people’s attitudes to the cost of higher education using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England
  • Authors: Andy Ross and James Lloyd

The research provides new insights into the socio-economic, demographic and parental drivers of young people’s financial concerns with university, as well those factors which support such concerned young people eventually deciding in favour of participating in higher education.

To accompany the research, the Strategic Society Centre is publishing a policy discussion paper:

This report considers what the findings of the research suggest about the design and effectiveness of the post-2012 student finance regime in England, and the aim of ensuring that young people do not feel deterred from university by the cost.

The report considers the potential for using alternative criteria besides household income for targeting financial support, reviews the importance of parental factors in shaping young people’s financial concerns and identifies the need for more research on subjective influences on the perceived rewards to investment in higher education.

The Access for All project was made possible by the kind support of Universities UK and Pearson.

You can read about the research in Times Higher Education.

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