HE urged to take more poor students

All universities must find new ways to attract young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into higher education, a report on a national survey has concluded.

Disadvantage is "one of the last frontiers in widening access to UK higher education", says report author Maggie Woodrow, head of Westminster University's European Access Network.

The report is called From Elitism to Inclusion - Good Practice in Widening Access to Higher Education. It will be launched at a Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals conference on November 2.

It says that a survey of 58 institutions found universities still need to do more to tackle traditional values that can stand in the way of providing opportunities for disadvantaged youngsters.

Admissions tutors must abandon their adherence to the A level as the only measure of higher education course worthiness, Ms Woodrow said.

Until they do, pockets of resistance to widening participation will remain.

Funding councils must provide financial incentives to encourage institutions to bring about the necessary change, the report says.

It gives examples of 14 projects that have succeeded in overcoming some of the barriers.

"We are trying to show that admitting disadvantaged students does not mean you are lowering standards, and that this is something every institution can do," Ms Woodrow said.