A fleet of trailers will tour further education colleges and schools in areas with low rates of participation in higher education.

“Aimhigher” is a three-year campaign providing information to people aged 13 to 19 about the benefits of higher education. It is particularly focused on reaching people from families and communities with little or no tradition of entering higher education. It is intended to raise the aspirations of students and teachers and lecturers alike.

Margaret Hodge, lifelong learning and higher education minister, said the best universities should make reaching out to young people from low-income families an integral part of their admissions process - as happens with Ivy League universities in the United States.

She said when launching the campaign: “Our top universities must take a long hard look at their intake. Over 85 per cent of those who go to our top universities come from the top three income groups.

“That means that less than 15 per cent of their students come from half the population. Background, not potential, is having an undue influence on people’s life chances.

“In America the Ivy League universities invest many thousands of dollars in finding and identifying the most talented young people. Universities here must hunt out bright young people from disadvantaged areas.”

Universities, colleges and schools had to raise the self-esteem and sights of young people.

The trailers will be staffed by young people who have gone on to higher education. The campaign is being sponsored by NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland. They will give advice on financial aspects of going to university when the trailers visit colleges.

The Government has set a target that by 2010, 50 per cent of young people will experience higher education by the time they are 30.

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