A-level results 2015: more women than men entering university

Emma Finamore
Last updated 13 Aug 2015

Here come the girls!

The university gender gap has widened further this year, with 27,000 more women than men about to start courses.

Last month, the Independent Commission on Fees (ICF) found that, within the UCAS system, there are now more women being accepted into universities than there are men applying.

Results showed that 331,210 women applied for a place in the academic year 2014-15, and 250,030 were accepted.

In contrast, 247,080 men applied over the same period, with just 197,420 gaining a university place.

The 18-year-old entry rate for women for the year was just over 34%, compared to almost 26% for men.

The ICF said the issue was the particularly high difference in less advantaged areas, where a female school leaver is 48% more likely to gain entry to a university than her male equivalent.

The report says this also points to pockets of the country where there is a cultural challenge to males in particular that could lead to the entrenchment of low income and lack of opportunity.

With the news the gender gap has widened more among less advantaged students since fees came in, with a bigger rise in young women from disadvantaged homes going to university than young men. A spokesperson for the ICF, Conor Ryan, told The Independent last month why this might be occurring.

He said: “It suggests the information about the new loan repayments may have proved more attractive to young women than to young men – or that young men from disadvantaged areas are less likely to believe the cost of a degree is worth it.

“Either way, there is a challenge here for policy-makers to meet.”

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