– North East still lags other regions for university take-up

SCHOOLS NorthEast, the representative body for all 1,250 schools across the region, today welcomed news that more pupils than ever have been accepted on university courses.

A total of 24% of 18 year olds from the North East will be off to university this autumn, up nearly 4% on the number who had secured places on A-level results day in 2012. But, the region still lags behind the rest of the country, with fewer entry rates than any other region.

Statistics released by the Undergraduate Courses at University and College (UCAS) show that, in the past five years, the region has seen a rise of approximately 4% in applications that met the A-level requirements.

Mike Parker, Director of SCHOOLS North East, commented: “The results today are a testimonial of the hard work and commitment of schools, pupils and their families and we would like to congratulate them all on their resounding success.

“Head Teachers across the region have been sharing success stories with us and we couldn’t be more proud of their pupils’ fantastic achievements, who secured places at universities across the country.

“While this is terrific, more can and should be done to raise aspirations and ensure that 18 year olds in the North East have the same chances at a university degree as their peers elsewhere in the country. Theresa May has spoken of the burning injustice of white working class boys being least likely to go to university. The Government needs to target more support in regions to break that connection.”

Mr Parker added: “Higher education is not the ‘be-all, end-all’ of post-secondary destinations, and we have seen many of our region’s pupils take on terrific vocational routes, including apprenticeships with the many brilliant companies across the North East.

“We wish them all the best of luck in this new and exciting chapter of their lives.”