The Problem
If you’re born into a poor family in Hackney, you’re 2 to 3 times more likely to go to university than a child from a poor family in the North of England. Equally, if you live in Richmond on Thames, you are 15 times more likely to get into Oxbridge than a student in Barnsley. This is the North-South inequality that continues to hold back bright students in deprived areas of the UK. And this is why Linacre Institute exists.
The 2024 State of the Nation report by the Social Mobility Commission identified regional disparities and ‘left behind people and places’ as one of the main contributors to the complex problem of social mobility faced within the U.K at present. This is certainly supported by some of the university progression statistics for Yorkshire, where as little as 0.3% of the area’s cohort progresses to Oxford or Cambridge (statistics for Wakefield).
Each year nearly 2,000 sixth-form students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the required academic capabilities to apply to, and win places at, our leading universities do not reach those institutions.Many of those students are in the ex-industrial parts of Yorkshire.
“You’re more likely to be able to tell a pathway from a postcode”, says Professor Danny Dorling of the University of Oxford.
At Linacre, we believe that where you live should not determine who has access to the very best education. Our mission is to give state-school students in social mobility cold spots across Yorkshire and the North of England the confidence to apply to our leading universities and the skills to thrive there. Our highly personalised and intensive Reach Higher Programme relies on the support of hundreds of wonderful individuals who contribute through sharing their expertise, giving up their time or donating to the programme. All these people make Reach Higher what it is: expert, long-term, personal, nurturing, and rooted in a community of academic curiosity.
There is a huge pool of unfulfilled talent and potential in the North of England. We are proud of the work we have done over the last thirteen years, but there is much more to do.
Our Impact
Linacre has had an amazing impact on the lives of nearly 700 students in Yorkshire since 2014:
- 80% of these have progressed to a Russell Group University.
- 30% of all applicants have won a place of study at either Oxford or Cambridge.
- Our Oxbridge rate is twice the national average and comparable with leading public schools such as Westminster.
- Our conversion of Oxbridge applications to offers also outperforms the highest schools ( in 2024, 60% of applicants received an offer)
- A UCAS STROBE report says Reach Higher students are twice as likely to go to UK top 10 university (judged by entrance standard) than kids who look like them socio-economically and in GCSE results.
The effect would actually be greater if our students were compared with other northern students, rather than the national standard.
We do all of this for a fraction of the resources spent on outreach by institutions such as Oxford University. It is estimated that Oxford University spends £108,000 on outreach for each student from a low-income family. We achieve the same result for just £1000.
Student Stories
Not only did I gain social confidence, but I was also made to feel more academically confident; through sessions on philosophy to economics, I got to know more about things I wouldn’t have the opportunity to study otherwise.