Alison Kershaw’s Press Association report on the Independent Commission on Fees findings was used by over 50 media outlets.

Students from the richest neighbourhoods are still almost 10 times more likely to go to a top university than those from the poorest areas.

And they are nearly three times more likely to study for a degree at all, according to new research by the Independent Commission on Fees.

It also reveals a widening gender divide, with more women going into higher education than men.

The new study analysed official data and statistics from the admissions service UCAS to look at different trends in university application and entry rates.

Overall, English 18-year-olds from the most advantaged backgrounds were 2.8 times more likely to go to any university than youngsters from the most disadvantaged areas, with 46.7% starting a degree compared to 16.9% of the poorest students.

This gap has closed slightly since 2010 when they were 3.2 times more likely to go into higher education, the findings show.

But the analysis reveals that the gap is wider for students going to leading universities.

English school leavers from the most advantaged areas were 6.8 times more likely to enter one of the 30 most selective institutions in the UK, and 9.5 times more likely to go to one of the 13 most prestigious universities, it found.

Read the full article here

You can read further coverage of the report in The Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mail and Times Higher Education.