The head of the body that aims to widen participation in higher education has urged universities to do more outreach work with younger children to raise aspirations in disadvantaged areas.
Sir Martin Harris, director of the Office for Fair Access, said efforts to widen participation would have "limited" success unless universities engaged with young people "at a much earlier age than 16 or 18".
Harris, who was addressing a conference organised by the Frank Buttle Trust to discuss the By Degrees: From Care to University report (see Research Report, p19), also said universities should not forget to work with schools where aspirations and attainment were lowest.
