Poor students put off university by Ucas forms

Potential students from the poorest families are being turned off university education because of the application process, according to marketing and access staff.

"If you imagine going into a car showroom, test-driving a car, and saying 'yes' to the salesperson - and they say that you have to write to Cheltenham to get a form and complete it and get some references - it is a barrier," said Roy Newson, director of marketing at Anglia Polytechnic University. "If you are going into households where the person is the first to even consider higher education, the whole business of application poses a barrier."

Geoff Layer, professor of lifelong learning at the University of Bradford, said: "The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service system is designed to handle applications from schools for 11 to 18-year-olds where there is a clear expectation that students will go on to higher education. The questions on the form are geared to school-leavers.

"Adults who have left formal learning will never have heard of Ucas. The Ucas form is off-putting. We are trying to reach people who have no bank account and we present them with a form that contains small print and looks like a credit agreement. The whole process is a barrier."

Tony Higgins, Ucas chief executive, said: "Forms are always intimidating, I think, but I don't see why the Ucas form should be any more intimidating to anybody from any particular background."