The Geodemographics of Educational Progression and their Implications for Widening Participation in Higher Education
Alex D Singleton (2010). Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 42(11), 2560-2580. DOI: 10.1068/a42394
Abstract
This paper addresses our ability to analyse progression rates into UK Higher Education (HE) using a range of data available at the individual and neighbourhood levels. The then Department for Children, Schools and Families has recently released data which make it possible to profile national patterns of student educational progression from post-compulsory schooling through to university. However, the linked records lack detailed socioeconomic information, and thus a geodemographic classification is used to analyse the flows of students from different sociospatial backgrounds into the HE system. Rates of progression are shown to vary greatly between these groups, and a disaggregation of HE participants by courses of study demonstrates that the abilities of institutions to attract students from different backgrounds will be constrained by the mix of their course offerings.
Extended Summary
This research examines how neighbourhood characteristics influence student progression from school into UK higher education, using newly available individual-level educational data. The study utilises the National Pupil Database (NPD), which links school records to university admissions data, combined with ACORN geodemographic classification that categorises neighbourhoods by socioeconomic characteristics. This approach allows tracking of individual students from Key Stage 4 (age 16) through to higher education participation, providing a more accurate method than previous studies that relied on population estimates. The methodology involved matching students who completed Key Stage 4 in 2002 with those who entered higher education between 2004-2006, calculating progression rates of 32% overall. The research reveals stark inequalities in higher education access across different neighbourhood types. Students from wealthy professional areas achieve progression rates of 64%, whilst those from struggling family neighbourhoods reach only 8%. These disparities persist even within broad socioeconomic categories, with significant variation between specific neighbourhood types. The study identifies ethnic dimensions to these patterns, showing students from Asian community areas favour vocational subjects like law, business studies and mathematical sciences, whilst avoiding language-based and creative subjects. The analysis extends beyond overall participation rates to examine subject preferences across geodemographic groups. This reveals that different academic disciplines attract students from varying socioeconomic backgrounds, with medicine and dentistry showing strong bias towards affluent neighbourhoods, whilst engineering and biological sciences demonstrate more uniform appeal. Students from professional backgrounds dominate social studies and languages, whilst those from the most affluent areas prefer education courses. These findings have significant implications for widening participation policies in higher education. The research demonstrates that institutional ability to attract diverse student populations is constrained by course portfolios, as different subjects inherently appeal to different socioeconomic groups. This suggests that widening participation strategies should consider subject-specific targeting rather than institution-wide approaches. Universities might strategically allocate bursaries to courses with low participation from underrepresented groups or use subject-based benchmarking for internal audits. The study concludes that whilst geodemographic analysis provides valuable insights for targeting widening participation efforts, fundamental improvements in higher education access require better investment in schools serving the most deprived neighbourhoods. The research contributes methodologically by demonstrating how linked administrative data can provide more robust foundations for educational inequality analysis than previous approaches.
Key Findings
- Higher education progression rates vary dramatically by neighbourhood type, ranging from 64% in wealthy professional areas to just 8% in deprived family areas
- Students from Asian community neighbourhoods show strong preferences for law, business and computer science subjects but avoid creative arts and historical studies
- The National Pupil Database provides more robust methods for calculating participation rates than previous commercially modelled population estimates
- Medicine and dentistry courses attract very few students from the most deprived neighbourhoods, likely due to high entrance requirements
- Institutions’ ability to widen participation is constrained by their mix of course offerings, as different subjects attract students from different socioeconomic backgrounds
Citation
@article{singleton2010geodemographics,
author = {Alex D Singleton},
title = {The Geodemographics of Educational Progression and their Implications for Widening Participation in Higher Education},
journal = {Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space},
year = {2010},
volume = {42(11)},
pages = {2560-2580},
doi = {10.1068/a42394}
}