The target group for the research were people living in wards designated as economically and socially deprived using the DETR Index of Local Deprivation. The study has focused on wards in Bristol and Plymouth. This work in the South West was funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and there are similar projects throughout the country. They support the Government s concern to increase participation in higher education, to broaden the base of people attending and to encourage universities and colleges to draw students from their local region. The researchers have found that young people living within these wards, even though they are living within university towns, do not consider that university is for them if they have not had other family members attend university.
Travel is a problem, even within inner city areas.
There are perceptual barriers about university education as being something for others. For such young people it is important to raise their awareness about higher education and to persuade them to consider their longer-term learning from their time of entry into secondary school. It is also important to work with their families and involve them in educational activities. It is essential to dispel myths about higher education, to find effective progression routes into it and to encourage young people to understand that a decision taken at 14 does not close the doors on a university education for the rest of their lives. The research team found that summer schools and other taster activ-ities were influential for those who had no family members in higher education.