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Widening Participation in Universities in England and Wales: Is There a Connection with Honours Degree Achievement?

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Widening Participation in Higher Education

Part of the book series: Issues in Higher Education ((IHIGHER))

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Abstract

The novelist Kingsley Amis once asserted forcefully, with respect to the expansion of the higher education (HE) system in the United Kingdom, that ‘more will mean worse’ (Amis, 1960: 9, emphasis as in original). This was at a time when the participation rate of young people was around 6 per cent. Currently, the participation rate across the United Kingdom is not far short of an order of magnitude higher. Students from traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds tend to enter HE with weaker academic qualifications and, hence, to enter the less prestigious institutions.

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© 2012 Mantz Yorke

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Yorke, M. (2012). Widening Participation in Universities in England and Wales: Is There a Connection with Honours Degree Achievement?. In: Hinton-Smith, T. (eds) Widening Participation in Higher Education. Issues in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137283412_3

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