Universities 'missing' half a million men

A new report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), Boys will be boys: The educational underachievement of boys and young men, has calculated that, due to differences in educational achievement between boys and girls, half a million men have missed out on university over the past decade.

The report, by Nick Hillman and Mark Brooks OBE, comes to this conclusion by considering how many more men would have gone on to higher education if their education participation had matched the much higher levels for young women. One result of this shortfall is more economic inactivity among young men and the threat of political extremism, which is more common among less well-educated men.

In 2024-25, around 44,000 fewer young men than women accepted a place at a UK higher education institution. As more boys than girls are born each year, if young men and women went to university at the same rate, there would be more male students in universities.

The gap between current numbers and full equity stands at around 55,000 missing men each year, equating to half a million ‘missing men’ over the past decade as a whole.

The paper, sponsored by Ulster University, sets forward several recommendations to reduce the achievement gap between boys and girls, including evaluating and expanding grassroots initiatives aimed at raising the standard of boys’ education, such as Lads Need Dads and Boys’ Impact.

The report recommends a greater emphasis on gender disparities, including among school staff, in school inspections and in higher education institutions’ Access and Participation Plans, as well as expecting dedicated focus on gender disparities from groups like the Social Mobility Commission and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. 

Other recommendations include developing a ‘boy positive’ environments in schools and restarting the Westminster Education Select Committee’s investigation into boys’ attainment and engagement in education, which stopped early on due to the 2024 general election.

Mark Brooks OBE, male inclusion policy adviser and co-author of the new report, said: “Everyone in education knows young men are not achieving as much as young women. Yet it has become a truth that dare not speak its name. Each year, it can be clearly seen when the exams results and higher education participation rates are published. Nationally though, there is little discussion or accountability, let alone any action. It is difficult to understand the reasons why — even more so, if we truly aim to create a more inclusive society.

“This report highlights a range of approaches and initiatives from the grassroots of the education community. These, and others, need to be fast-tracked and mainstreamed as we can no longer continue to let further generations of young men down. We need them to do better academically. Not only because it helps them, our society and the economy, but also because — importantly — it helps young women too. We need both to rise together.”