More students from Scotland's most deprived communities are staying on at university
Retention rates for students returning to university in second year are on the rise - but a poverty-related attainment gap still exists
Students from Scotland’s most deprived communities are increasingly staying on at university, new research shows.
Exam result data released on Tuesday found a higher number of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds had secured university places.
However, retention rates for those young people are consistently lower than their better-off peers.
READ MORE: Education secretary will not apologise for failure to close poverty related attainment gap
Now the Scottish Funding Council’s research shows the gap is narrowing with 87.7 per cent of disadvantaged teenagers returning for second year.
This is up 1.6 percentage points on the previous year - but still below the national average of 91.7 per cent.
Francesca Osowska, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said: “These figures demonstrate encouraging progress towards Scotland’s widening access ambitions.
“It is particularly positive to see retention rates improving for students from the most deprived parts of Scotland, care experienced students and disabled students, showing that more learners are not only accessing higher education but staying on through their studies.”
University retention rates had slumped during and immediately following the Covid-19 pandemic but widening access figures show a recovery in students finishing their degrees.
Of Scottish-domiciled full-time first degree students who entered university in 2023-24, 91.7 per centre returned for their second year of study, up 2.2 percentage points on the previous year.
Retention among students from the 20 per cent most deprived parts of Scotland showed improvement, rising by 1.6 percentage points to 87.7 per cent.
This represents a second consecutive year of recovery.
Retention rates also improved for care experienced students, who saw retention increase by 1.5 percentage points to 86.4 per cent, while retention among disabled students rose by 1.8 percentage points to 90.4 per cent.
The number of care experienced students entering higher education also reached a record level. There were 2,285 care experienced entrants to undergraduate higher education courses across colleges and universities in 2024-25, accounting for 2.8 per cent of all entrants.
Both the number and proportion of care experienced entrants have increased every year since 2014-15.
In universities alone, 805 care experienced students entered full-time first degree courses, representing 2.3 per cent of entrants.
Care experienced students were also more likely to come from deprived communities, with 30.1 per cent of care experienced university entrants living in SIMD20 areas.
The report also shows continued growth in participation among disabled students.
More than a quarter - 25.5 per cent - of Scottish-domiciled full-time first degree entrants declared a disability in 2024-25, the highest proportion recorded.
“As we work towards future widening access targets, this report highlights the commitment across Scotland’s colleges and universities to ensure learners from all backgrounds have the opportunity to succeed and fulfil their potential,” Ms Osowska added.
Exam results data released on Tuesday showed the gap between the results achieved by students in the least deprived parts of Scotland and those in the most deprived still remain significant.
Nicola Sturgeon, while First Minister, pledged to close the attainment gap by 2026.
While it did narrow this year, the figures remain stubbornly static.
The latest stats show that at National 5, the gap is 15.6 percentage points, down from 16.4.
Some 86.6 per cent of better-off students got an A to C grades this year as opposed to 71 per cent of those in the most deprived areas.
At Higher, the gap is 15.9 percentage points, down from 16.8 last year.
At Advanced Higher it is 12.1, down from 13.3.
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