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This chapter examines widening access to higher education in Sweden from the 1960s onwards and contrasts the influence of two different political ideologies — social democracy and neo-liberalism. It provides an overview of the higher education system and student support. Sweden has made extensive use of alternative routes into higher education to enable access for those lacking traditional entry qualifications. These routes are outlined, changes over time are described and Sweden is compared to other European countries drawing on Eurostudent data. These data indicate that Sweden has made considerable advances in widening access through the use of alternative routes. However, the conclusion questions the extent to which current higher education policy, influenced by neo-liberalism, can lead to further progress.

This chapter focuses on the use of target-setting in Scottish higher education to boost participation by under-represented groups. The central question I address is whether the technology of New Public Management, such as performance indicators and targets, is likely to be useful in addressing the problem of social inequality in higher education. Traditionally, the Scottish Government has tended to adopt a light touch to university regulation and governance, using institutional carrots rather than sticks (Raffe, 2013, 2016). More recently, since the introduction of widening access outcomes agreements and the publication of the final report of the Commission on Fair Access (Scottish Government, 2015), universities have argued that the government’s interventions risk eroding university autonomy without achieving policy goals.

The Bologna Process (BP) seeks to harmonise higher education (HE) across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The social dimension of the BP was adopted to encourage member states to develop widening access measures. Countries were free to interpret guidance as they saw fit and there were no penalties for non-compliance. This chapter considers the implications of this approach for the implementation of widening access strategies in relation to disabled students and those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. We use Eurostudent Survey and Eurostat data to analyse the inclusion of these groups of students in different countries, commenting on interpretational difficulties arising due to non-harmonised definitions and categories. It is argued that allowing countries a high degree of latitude in interpreting the meaning of widening access has resulted in widely different approaches. Harmonised categories would be helpful in ensuring greater consistency, but these might be resisted on the grounds of infringing the autonomy of individual states. Tensions between national and supra-national policy arise in many social policy fields across the EHEA and will certainly need to be addressed in the post-COVID world to avoid the entrenchment of existing social divisions.

Differences between UK countries in HE policy and provision concerning the accessibility of HE study for students, and the costs of that study, have implications for cross-border study mobility. Those qualified for and wishing to enter HE are affected both by financial support for students and the provision of the HE service in terms of the number of places and the shape and history of the sector within their home country, and in comparison to other countries of the UK. In addition, funding policies for mobile students do not recognise social diversity and so have an unequal impact on students in relation to their socio-economic resources, a consequence of the territorial frame of reference and unequal devolution arrangements which work against a UK-wide social citizenship. Drawing on a quantitative analysis of student data, this chapter discusses the unequal conditions of access, opportunity and financial support for HE across the UK and how this may have a negative impact on the role of cross-border mobility in widening participation.

Young people’s choice of higher education institution and subject are often assumed to take place in a social vacuum, ignoring the influence of family and friends. Despite a shift away from state funding of undergraduate higher education towards a cost-sharing model (Johnstone, 2004), little research has been carried out on family attitudes to debt, particularly in Scotland where home students do not pay tuition fees. This chapter explores how higher education decisions are made by Scottish domiciled students in the context of their families and the ways in which such decisions are mediated by social class.

The Printemps Érable has become a landmark event in the history of Québec’s student movement. The Printemps Érable protesters expressed demands on several fronts, including the freezing of tuition fees, free education, the preservation of a just and universal student loans and bursaries programme, the right of access to higher education for all the province’s youth and freedom of association. The 2012 movement echoed protests in the 1950s. This chapter provides an overview of the history of student protest over fees and access to higher education in Québec and considers its implications for student struggles more widely. The Printemps Érable ultimately led to the freezing of tuition fees. It also ensured the preservation of the universal student loan and bursary programme, and reaffirmed the students’ right to free association. This chapter gives an historical overview of the student protest movement in Quebec, and ponders its impact on student struggles everywhere.

This chapter draws on findings from a comparative, qualitative research project investigating the decision-making of different groups of English higher education students in central England as they graduated from a Russell group university (46 interviewees) and a Post-92 university (28 interviewees). Half of the students graduated in 2014 (lower tuition fees regime) and the other half graduated in 2015 (higher tuition fees regime). The students interviewed were sampled by socio-economic background, gender, degree subject/discipline and secondary school type. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore students’ future plans and perceptions of their future job prospects. Despite higher debt levels, the 2015 sample of Russell Group graduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds had a positive view of their labour market prospects and a high proportion had achieved either a graduate job or a place on a postgraduate course prior to graduation. This group had saved money whilst studying. The 2015 sample of Post-1992 University graduates (from both lower and average socio-economic backgrounds) were worried about their level of debt, future finances and labour market prospects. This chapter raises questions about whether a fairer university finance system, involving lower levels of debt for graduates from less advantaged backgrounds, might avoid some graduates’ transitions to adulthood being so strongly influenced by financial anxieties.