Professor John McKendrick has been appointed as the new commissioner for fair access to higher education in Scotland.
Currently professor of social justice at Glasgow Caledonian University, he will work across Scotland’s education system to champion increased representation at university for students from the country’s most deprived areas.
Professor McKendrick - who is also co-director of the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit - succeeds Professor Sir Peter Scott who stepped down as Scotland’s inaugural commissioner for fair access last year after six years in the role.
The Scottish government has set itself the goal of ensuring that students from the 20 per cent most-deprived communities will represent 20 per cent of entrants to Scottish universities by 2030.
In his final report published in May, Sir Peter highlighted that the first interim target to have 16 per cent of new entrants to full-time first-degree courses from the 20 per cent most-deprived communities in Scotland by 2021 had been met. He said that Scotland was setting “the pace in terms of fair access to higher education among the UK nations”.
However, he also warned against complacency and said that “the scale of the task ahead should not be minimised” given the potential impact of Covid-19 disruption on the attainment of the most disadvantaged pupils - as well as the cost-of-living crisis.
The Scottish government’s minister for higher education, Jamie Hepburn, thanked Sir Peter for “his tireless hard work and effort during his time as commissioner” - and said that progress widening access to university had been “extremely encouraging” but that there was “more to do”.
He said: “Professor McKendrick’s appointment provides an excellent opportunity to continue to drive progress on fairer access to higher education for all at such a pivotal juncture.”
Professor McKendrick said: “It is a great honour to be appointed commissioner for fair access and I relish the opportunity of working with those committed to tackling inequalities in access.
“Progress has been made toward meeting the ambitious 2030 target to widen access, but the world in which we live has changed. The Covid pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis have intensified the problems for those already facing most disadvantage.
“We now need to upscale our efforts to widen access in higher education, if Scotland is to prosper as a high-skill economy, and to do so as an inclusive society.”
