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Pervasive socio-economic differences in relation to participation in higher education in the United Kingdom are particularly prominent in the most prestigious institutions. This study provides insight into why some individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds are successful in being admitted into one of these institutions. Underpinned by phenomenology, semi-structured interviews were carried out to examine the lived experiences of high-achieving students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds throughout their educational trajectories from primary school to a Russell Group university. Two main themes emerged from the data: identity and educational engagement. Various sources of disadvantage associated with material hardship, socio-cultural and interpersonal factors were strongly linked to identity and students' perceptions of their own social status. In turn, these factors and identity-related constructs associated with peer-group memberships, low expectations and negative group stereotypes affected how individuals engaged with education, contributing, for instance, to their lack of active involvement at school/college and poor attendance. However, identity-related factors were also found to influence individuals' educational engagement positively, including their motivations for overcoming obstacles, achieving high grades and pursuing HE. The barriers and facilitators discussed by these individuals have important implications for widening access to HE and thus require further consideration.

Students' trajectories into university are often uniquely dependent on school qualifications though these alone are limited as predictors of academic potential. This study endorses this, examining associations between school grades, school type, school performance, socio-economic deprivation, neighbourhood participation, sex and academic achievement at a British university. Consistent with past research, large entry-level differences between students are generally narrowed by final year at university. Students from the most deprived areas performed less well than more affluent students. Asian and black students performed less well than white students. Female students performed better than their male counterparts. Contrasting with past research, though school performance was positively associated with entry grades, students from low-performing schools were more likely to achieve the highest degree classifications. Additionally, independent school students performed less well than comprehensive school students at final year despite entering with higher grades. These variations exemplify how patterns observed nationally may differ between universities.

Globally, the need for evidence to guide widening participation (WP) practices aimed at reducing inequalities in higher education (HE) participation is recognised more than ever before. In addition, whilst it is also increasingly accepted that approaches drawing on the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative methods (mixed methods) are necessary to develop a more robust evidence base, their use is still not common practice. Given that there is limited guidance on how to combine divergent methods in the field, this may be impeding practitioners and researchers in using mixed methods approaches in WP research. This paper provides such guidance, describing the challenges and benefits of combining qualitative and quantitative methods within a single research design and discusses these issues in relation to epistemological approach, study design frameworks, methods of data collection, analytical approaches and issues of validity and reliability. We also present a mixed methods WP study to illustrate one approach that can be used to address these methodological issues. In doing so, we present new guidance and a framework that WP practitioners and researchers can use for conducting and integrating mixed methods studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]