Some Aiming Higher

The government was pleased to report that more young people from lower socio-economic groups are going into higher education than ever http://www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/F/fypsec_paper_2009 the BBC and other commentators were less delighted, pointing out that the improvement was very slight http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8129069.stm However, I thought the most incongruous aspect to this news was that it was publicised at the same time as the government announced a squeeze on higher education (HE) numbers http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/30/recession-university-places It seems odd to me that government are not funding this bulge, especially as I'm sure any shortage of places will disproportionately hit hard to reach groups. Such as here where mature students are identified as being at risk http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jul/09/university-places-shortage-recession If one didn't know better one might think the government was developing higher education policy in a disjointed fashion and making it up as they went along.