Elite universities face ‘balancing act’ over local students

Local students risk being “overlooked” by elite UK universities as they try to meet their widening participation targets, scholars have warned.

Figures provided to Times Higher Education show that less than half (48 per cent) of all UK first-degree full-time students attended university within their local region in 2024-25.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) data is unchanged from last year, but down from 49 per cent in 2022-23.

Analysis reveals that the number of local students at institutions with traditionally low proportions has continued to fall.

At Durham University, just 8.5 per cent of students were from the north-east – down from 8.8 per cent last year and at least the fifth year in a row it has had the lowest proportion.

John Goddard, emeritus professor of regional development studies at Newcastle University, said the issue is particularly acute in areas such as Durham where graduate job opportunities for local students are limited. The region also has the lowest rate of progression to higher education.

“Elite universities are trying to balance alternative pressures to compete for domestic students and at the same time respond to populist attacks on ‘ivory towers’ by being civic institutions that are both global and local,” Goddard said. 

A Durham spokesperson said it had launched a new access and participation plan to attract students from local communities, was using targeted outreach to disadvantaged schools in the region and provided a range of financial and practical support to help local students succeed.

“While we recognise that there is still more work to do, we remain committed to making further progress and playing our part in improving opportunities for young people across the region.”

In comparison, Newcastle University, another north-east institution in the Russell Group, takes in 22 per cent of its students from the region.

Goddard warned a lack of local students can act as a disincentive to young people to progress into higher education. He called on higher and further education institutions to collaborate and not compete to address the challenge.

At Loughborough University, 12.5 per cent of students were from the East Midlands, although this was its highest level for at least five years.

A spokesperson said: “Loughborough’s location outside a major city means our student community differs from institutions based in large urban areas, which naturally influences the proportion of local applicants.”

Paul Martin, senior research fellow in the UCL Institute of Education, said universities will typically be focused on ensuring that they fill as many places as possible to protect their tuition fee revenue, while also aiming to meet their widening participation targets.

“Typically, these targets concern the socio-economic background of the students that are recruited, not the extent to which local students are successfully recruited.”

London has the highest number of disadvantaged students who meet the entry requirements of more selective institutions.

“This means it can be tempting for more selective institutions outside of the capital to target recruitment efforts there, with the possible risk of local students being overlooked,” added Martin.

The figures also show the proportion of local students at the University of Warwick fell slightly to 12.9 per cent, and at the University of Cambridge to 13.2 per cent.

A spokesperson for Cambridge said it supports local students in various ways including helping them to increase attainment in various qualifications and develop the skills that prepare them for participation in degree-level study.

“We are a national and global university so it is understandable that the proportion of our students from the local region reflects this.”

Sonie Ilie, professor of education at Cambridge, said universities face a “balancing act” in recruiting to increasingly diverse groups of students and maintaining a role in their local communities.

“Some universities, specifically those that are highly selective, have not historically recruited strongly from their local community,” she added.

“For these institutions, the value of local outreach and local engagement can be very high: reaching more prospective applicants, enhancing employment opportunities for their graduates, but also making a positive contribution to the wider local community.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com