‘Neighbourhood effect’ drags down students’ academic achievement

Students from the most deprived parts of the UK are less likely to be awarded top degrees than their peers from more affluent areas, regardless of their family background, according to new research.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) discovered that a possible “neighbourhood effect” exists, where the higher education qualifications of parents had no effect.

There is some debate within the sector concerning area-based measures of deprivation, and whether they accurately reflect the circumstances faced by specific households.

Hesa researchers therefore used UK-wide data to explore if neighbourhoods have an adverse impact on the ability of an individual to achieve their educational potential irrespective of their family or household background.

The researchers examined a sample of UK-domiciled full-time first-degree students aged 17 to 20 who qualified between 2017-18 and 2020-21.

They found that young people living in the most deprived areas were least likely to be awarded a first or upper second class degree.

This was found to be true regardless of whether or not individuals in these areas had parents who held higher education qualifications.

Researchers said that the results show the possibility of a “neighbourhood effect”, which leads to those from the most deprived areas being unable to fulfil their abilities regardless of their household conditions.

“In recent years, there has been growing demand within the higher education sector for better individual-level measures of socio-economic background,” said Tej Nathwani, principal researcher at Hesa.

“These findings, however, demonstrate that we perhaps should not be too hasty to dismiss the potential value of area-based measures in activities designed to ensure everyone has the chance to reach their full potential.”

Hesa said that although students may live in an area classified as more deprived, their family income or education levels could be high, meaning they may not require additional help in the form of outreach activity or greater support during their studies.

This means that area-based measures could therefore lead to policy being ineffectively targeted and prevent the objective of equal opportunity for all being achieved.

The team said further research is needed to examine the influence of other individual measures, such as household income, in combination with area-based indicators, as well as looking at a wider range of points in the student life cycle.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com