White Working Class Males in British Higher Education
2.5 HE progression - Analysis of POLAR data
HEFCE ( HEFCE , 2016a ) has made extensive data available about participation in higher education by geographical location . The data reveals which postcodes have higher numbers of higher education participation among young people in undergraduate study , referred to as POLAR3 ( Participation of Local Area , version 3 ) classification groups . The data is based on the participation rates of young people aged 18 between 2005 and 2009 , who entered HE by the 2010-11 academic year . Analysis of the data ( Southamton Solent University , 2016b ) indicates that overall the South East is a high young HE participation area , with regional participation rates within Quintile 4 ( between 33.8 percent to 36.6 percent ).
Figure 8 : Proportion of 15 year olds who progressed into HE by age 19 during the 2005 / 06 and 2010 / 11 academic years by region
However , this masks the considerable variation in young participation rates across the region . The map below ( extracted from HEFCE 2016a ) ‘ shows an absence of level 5 Quintiles in the Solent region with lower levels of HE participation ( Quintile 1-3 ) dominating the city areas of Southampton and Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight , indicating lower levels of HE participation in these areas ’ ( Southampton Solent University , 2016b ).
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