Commissioner for Fair Access: annual report 2025/26

An Introduction to fair access in Scotland for 2026

1. What is fair access? Fair access is the name given to work to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds access higher education in Scotland.

2. What is the national target for fair access? By 2030, students from the 20% most deprived backgrounds should represent 20% of entrants to higher education. Residency in the 20% Most Deprived Areas is used as the indicator of 20% most deprived backgrounds. Full-time and higher education refers to first-time, first-degree entrants to Scottish universities as a whole. 2030 refers to academic year 2030-31, outcomes from which will be reported in the Report on Widening Access in 2032.

3. Are we there yet? No. Currently, 16.7% of entrants to higher education are from the 20% most deprived areas.

4. Are there interim targets to be met before 2030? Yes. A target of 16% was set for 2021 (and met). The next target is that by 2026, 18% of entrants to higher education will be from the 20% most deprived areas. 2026 refers to academic year 2026-27, which will be reported in the Report on Widening Access in 2028.

5. Are we headed in the right direction? Perhaps. Although the 2021 target was achieved two years in advance (in 2019-20) and has continued to be exceeded in the four years that have followed, the share of entrants from deprived areas is currently the same as it was three years ago (16.7% in 2020-21 and 2023-24).

6. What is the scale of the challenge that lies ahead? Significant. Future entrants have had to manage learning through the COVID pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis. Scotland’s fiscal position also makes it more challenging to resource fair access work.

7. Is there promising practice? Yes. There is already a wide range of actions being undertaken to enable fair access to higher education in Scotland. However, there is scope for more of this type of work to be undertaken.

8. Do we know ‘what works’? We think so. The increased numbers of people from Scotland’s most deprived areas who are now accessing higher education would suggest that something is working. However, we need to strengthen the evidence base to better understand which (or which combination) of these actions is making the difference.

9. Who is responsible for achieving fair access? Obviously, universities in Scotland have the key role to play. However, fair access is an example of an objective that is ‘everybody’s business’ – we won’t achieve fair access unless schools, colleges, government, the wider ‘public sector’, third sector organisations working in this field, and families do what is required to enable entrants to realise their own potential.

10. Is fair access only about getting people into university? No. Fair access is also about enabling entrants to thrive in higher education and helping them achieve positive outcomes after graduation. However, much of the early fair access work has, understandably, been focused on entry to tackle the under-representation of those from deprived backgrounds.

11. Does this mean that less disadvantaged students will lose out? Not for Scotland as a whole. In fact, the number of entrants from the least deprived areas has increased by 10.0% (820 entrants) since 2013-14. The much higher increase in the number from the most deprived areas (41.4% since 2013-14, or an extra 1,595 entrants) is narrowing the gap. Entrants from the least deprived areas are still the largest cohort, with 1.7 times more entrants than the most deprived areas. Furthermore, the growth in entry among those from the most deprived areas is not at the expense of those slightly less deprived areas (growth of 22.2% since 2013-14, or an extra 955 entrants from the 20-40% most deprived areas).

12. Should we continue to promote fair access? Yes. Fair access is about promoting social justice. It is, and should be, viewed as a key aspect of Scotland’s national mission to eradicate poverty.