The proportion of state school pupils in England who attend higher education has fallen by the largest amount since comparable records began, figures reveal.

?released on 31 July show that 86.9 per cent of A-level pupils at independent schools had progressed to higher education by age 19 in 2023-24 ¨C a drop of 1.6 percentage points on the near-record levels in 2022-23.

The progression rate for grammar schools fell by 2.1 percentage points (to 88.9 per cent) and dropped by 2.3 percentage points in other state schools (to 78.7 per cent).

The fall for non-selective state schools was the largest since comparable records began in 2017-18. The progression rate gap between state and private schools also jumped by the largest amount over this period.

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A-level pupils attending high-tariff universities fell by a record amount across all school types after the Covid-19 pandemic. In state schools, 28.2 per cent went on to top institutions, but in independent schools it was 60.4 per cent.

Data for England comes just a day after similar figures showed a boost to widening participation efforts in Scotland.?The Labour government in Westminster has made widening participation a cornerstone of its plan for higher education reform, promising interventions in its coming post-16 sector White Paper.

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Meanwhile, the DfE figures also reveal that the number of disadvantaged students attending higher education fell for the second year in a row. The progression rate for pupils receiving free school meals in state-funded schools at age 15 was 28.9 per cent in 2023-24 ¨C down from 29 per cent the year before.

Children not receiving free school meals also saw a decline in their progression rate but remain almost three times as likely to attend a high-tariff institution.

Graeme Atherton,?associate pro vice-chancellor for regional engagement at the University of West London,?told?Times Higher Education that the second annual decline was a worry but was partly driven by the increasing numbers of young people who are now eligible for free school meals.

He said his ¡°major concern¡± was the local figures which show significant inequalities between different parts of the country.

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Just 11.3 per cent of pupils in Blackpool on free school meals attend higher education ¨C a part of England which has seen little improvement since 2018-19. In contrast, almost three-quarters (73.2 per cent) of their peers in Redbridge achieved the same feat last year.

¡°Again, we see the gap between London and the rest of the country widening slightly and areas of the country making little progress at all or going backwards,¡± said Atherton, who is also the head of the Ruskin Institute for Social Equity.

¡°It is encouraging that the government is looking to make regional differences the centre of its widening access policy but it needs to move quickly as the situation is worsening every year.¡±

In inner London, over half (50.7 per cent) of free school meal pupils progress to higher education ¨C compared?with just 19.3 per cent in the south west.

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com