Only one in six young people from Harlow takes part in higher education, states a report from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) published today.

16 per cent of Harlow young people took up a university-level course, compared with 69 per cent from the highest-performing part of the country, Kensington & Chelsea. The figure places Harlow low down in the bottom third of the HEFCE table.

Commenting on the report, Harlow Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman Lorna Spenceley said:

"This report shows that under this Government, far from its stated aim of 50 per cent of young people going to university, access to higher education remains very unequal. Labour's introduction of tuition fees and top-up fees continues to put off many young people from less well-off backgrounds.

It's time to scrap tuition fees, and reverse Tony Blair's broken promise on top-up fees. Harlow's young people should be encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity of higher education, not be put off by the prospect of mountains of debt."