compared with 31 percentage points across England ). The lower progression rates amongst tracked students in Quintiles 3 to 5 when compared with students across England may be the result of selection bias . The Uni Connect programme targets students from underrepresented groups , so there are smaller numbers of participants from Quintiles 3 to 5 . Those students from Quintiles 3 to 5 who have participated in Uni Connect activities may be more likely to be disadvantaged in other ways .
2018-19 progress to HE rates by POLAR 4 Quintile
38 % |
36 % |
43 % 40 % 39 % |
49 % |
37 % |
42 % |
Q1 ( 3125 tracked Uni Q2 ( 1395 tracked Uni Q3 ( 915 tracked Uni Connect students ) Connect students ) Connect students )
Q4 ( 650 tracked Uni Connect students )
Q5 ( 590 tracked Uni Connect students )
England 2018 / 19 HE progression rate by age 19 . Gap between most and least represented groups = 30.5 percentage points Uni Connect tracked students taking part in outreach in 2017 / 18 and HE ready in 2018 / 19 . Gap between most and least represented groups = 4 percentage points
Examining the proportion of Uni Connect learners who took part in outreach and were subsequently eligible to progress to HE in 2018 / 19 , and who entered higher education as first - time entrants , reveals close to parity between students from target wards ( those identified on the basis of low participation rates ) and non-target wards .
% tracked cohort accessing HE in 2018 / 19
62.2 % 61.2 % Not yet progressed to HE
Progressed to HE
37.8 % 38.8 %
8
From target ward n = 2925 From non-target ward n = 3945