UK: Higher university tuition fees 'putting off working-class boys'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Boys are more likely to shun university as a result of the rise in tuition fees, according to new research.

In particular, the gender gap between working class boys and girls going to university is growing, the study, by the Independent Commission on Fees, shows.

Whilst overall acceptance rates among applicants from poorer homes have remained steady, the figures show 1,700 fewer boys from the 40 per cent of neighbourhoods with the lowest higher-education participation rates were accepted into university last year.
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The findings follow a call by Universities minister David Willetts, in an interview with The Independent, for white working-class boys to be classified as a target for universities in the same way as ethnic-minority students.

The report, though, shows that the slump in applications from boys runs through all social strata - with 6.2 per cent fewer boys from the most advantaged areas applying than girls. Professor Alan Smithers, of the Centre for Education and Employment Studies at Buckingham University, said one reason could be growing interest amongst boys in seeking apprenticeships "as a direct route into employment".'