How stable is the stratification of higher education in England and Scotland?

Abstract

This paper asks whether the institutional hierarchies defined by ‘golden triangle’, other Russell Group, other pre-1992 and post-1992 universities in England, and by ancient, old and new universities in Scotland, have become weaker since the 1990s. Using indicators constructed from Universities and Colleges Admissions Service data for 1996–2010, the article finds a stable hierarchical relationship among the sectors within each country, with some indicators showing a slight widening of status differences between sectors towards the end of the period. The main exception was a slight ‘upgrading’ of new (post-1992) universities in Scotland early in the period. There was little change in the association of institutional sector with social class, but in England the association with private secondary schools became slightly stronger and the association with ethnicity weakened.

Keywords:

• institutional status
• post-1992 universities
• student preferences
• social reproduction
• social class
• ethnicity

Acknowledgements

This paper is a product of the research project on ‘Changing Transitions to a Differentiated Higher Education System’, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. It uses data from UCAS. UCAS cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not of the Nuffield Foundation or UCAS.