Meeting of the Parliament 04 December 2025
I thank the convener and the members of the committee, as it is their work, and that of all the stakeholders who gave evidence to the committee, that enables us to have this debate today. I also thank the clerks who were involved in the process.
I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the committee’s report and the Government’s formal response, which was issued earlier in the year. I am also grateful for the opportunity to do so as someone who is politically committed to creating a fairer society—as are so many colleagues across the chamber—and who recognises the important role that widening access to higher education and other opportunities plays in that process. It should be one of our top priorities in the period ahead, along with creating greater parity of esteem, which I know also motivates so many colleagues in the chamber and others across the country. Those two aspects in particular will help us to establish a better scenario than we have now, although we have made much progress towards creating a more equitable post-school education system.
As the convener did, the report sets out the remaining challenges, but I want to talk first about some of the progress that has been made. It is important to acknowledge the advances that have been achieved collectively and on which the Government has sought to provide leadership. For example, as we speak here today—indeed, over recent years—the number of Scots from more deprived areas entering full-time degree courses has risen. In 2023-24, that number showed an increase of 37 per cent in comparison with the number when the Government established the commission on widening access. The proportion of Scotland-domiciled entrants with a known disability from the 20 per cent most deprived areas has risen from 12.8 per cent in 2016-17 to 18.1 per cent in 2023-24.