Dundee leading way in improving access for poorer students

Published On Thu 26 Mar 2015 by Roddy Isles

The latest figures issued by the Scottish Funding Council on widening access to higher education for students from the most deprived sections of society have shown the University of Dundee making the biggest improvements in the country.

The Funding Council’s `Learning for All’ report shows entry rates into higher education in Scotland for students from the 20 per cent most deprived areas (MD20) and the 40 per cent most deprived (MD40) areas in the country.

Dundee demonstrated the biggest improvement in MD20 entry in Scotland, a 4.4 per cent improvement. The University also had one of the biggest rises in MD40 entrants, showing a 2.5 per cent increase.

Professor Karl Leydecker, Vice-Principal Learning and Teaching at the University of Dundee, said,

“We have set ambitious targets for widening access to students from the more deprived areas of society and it is encouraging to see we are leading the way in Scotland in terms of increasing the numbers of these students gaining access to the University.

“This is something we are seeing take effect in all areas of the University. It is particularly pleasing to see the very strong improvement of the

proportion of MD40 entrants in the highly competitive subjects of Medicine and Dentistry, rising from 6% to 23% in Dentistry over two years, and almost doubling to 22% in Medicine in one year.

“We are continuing to increase targets for widening access, working with the Scottish Funding Council. We are also working on how we can better support these students to succeed at University once they are here.”

Roddy Isles
Head of Press
TEL: 01382 384910
MOBILE: 07800 581902
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk