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Universities should do more to attract and support mature students, who now outnumber under-21s in higher education, Baroness Blackstone, the higher education minister, said this week.

Universities should devote more resources to supplement additional government funding earmarked to help institutions cater for mature students' needs, she told a Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals conference in London.

The conference heard how the number of accepted mature applicants in full-time higher education has continued in a downward trend since 1995, despite a surge in 1997 - the year before student contributions to fees were introduced.