Teachers are being urged to encourage A-level students to leave home to attend their preferred university.
New data from a major study of the lives of 11,000 students awaiting A-level results next week reveals up to 34 per cent of them, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, may live at home to study, with many doing so due to concerns over costs.
The Covid Social Mobility and Opportunities (Cosmo) study - led by the University College London’s Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies and the Sutton Trust - found that 20 per cent of the class of 2023 plan to live at home if they are successful in getting into their preferred university, while a further 14 per cent are undecided.
The study says that, while studying from home is the right choice for many young people, it “does place a limit on the available choice of university - along with the full educational and cocurricular opportunities on offer from living on campus”.
It is “important to avoid this being driven by families’ financial circumstances”, they warn.
However, among those who plan to live at home, about one-fifth said this is because they could not afford to live away, and just one-fifth because their preferred university was near their home.
Nearly half (46 per cent) said the main reason was that they wanted or needed to remain close to their families, some due to caring responsibilities.
The research also found young people from working-class families are much less likely to want to go to a Russell Group university than those whose parents hold professional or managerial positions (36 per cent vs 50 per cent), with similar differences for young people planning to live at home compared with those looking to move away (32 per cent vs 51 per cent).
Students from families who used a food bank in the last year were far less likely to apply for university at all, and those who did apply were much more likely to plan on living at home (31 per cent vs 19 per cent for those who did not use a food bank).
Carl Cullinane, director of research and policy at the Sutton Trust, said schools where fewer students attend prestigious universities should ensure they are giving support to those who may be in a position to apply.
He added: “Teachers can also play a greater role by making their pupils aware of the contextual offers they could be eligible for. This can play a big part in giving young people the confidence to apply to university.”
Teachers can also point their pupils toward access courses, “which can give people the experiences and knowledge that will help them to make the best choice for them”, he said.
He added that universities, including the most selective, should make better use of contextual admissions when deciding which students to make offers to.
A Department for Education spokesperson said an increase in the number of students opting to live at home does not necessarily mean students are making less ambitious choices of where to study.
It is making £276 million in student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023-24 academic year to support disadvantaged students, which institutions can use to top up their own hardship schemes, as well as increasing student loans and grants.
