Committee convener James Dornan asks what evidence there is to show that pupils from poorer areas can do just as well as those from affluent backgrounds.

Dame Ruth says there is evidence to show that, when pupils from poorer areas are put in similar surroundings and given a similar level of teaching as those in affluent areas, they perform just as well.

She says there is evidence, but not enough. 

A report, published in July, found it has become "more difficult" for Scots students to get a place at a university in Scotland.

Public spending watchdog Audit Scotland has carried out its first major review of higher education.

It detailed "significant challenges" facing the sector.

The report highlighted a 6% real terms cut in the amount of cash universities receive from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

The Scottish government provided more than £1.7bn to universities and students in 2014/15 but the study said institutions were "placing increasing reliance on generating income from fee-paying students from the rest of the UK and outside the European Union".

The chances of a Scottish university applicant being offered a place have slipped, according to official figures published last month.

Data from admissions body Ucas suggests the number of places available has gone up but demand is rising even faster.

The figures also showed a further rise in the number of people from disadvantaged areas being offered places.

The Scottish government said it was committed to delivering access to higher education for all.

According to Ucas, the "offer rate" to Scottish applicants was 59.6% - a 1.6% drop on last year.

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Dame Ruth Silver says there is a lot of recommendations in the report.

Dame Ruth says the key issues are: 

• leadership
• teaching is learning
• finding the places of leverage

She says there were 34 recommendations in the Blueprint for Fairness, external.

Dame Ruth says the stance on the work is that "inequality is damaging". 

She says the work was carried out over 10 months and although the timescale was very tight, any arguments on points were resolved. 

The conclusion is that, as innovative as things are, it is unsystematic and data is poor to inadequate.

Young Scots from disadvantaged areas are four times less likely to go to university than those from wealthy backgrounds, researchers have found.

Their study, published in May last year, showed 90% of growth in higher education places for disadvantaged students came from colleges, not universities.

The Sutton Trust said its findings showed a "shocking access gap".

The Scottish government said university access for students from poorer areas was up by 29% since it came to power.

Dame Ruth highlights details from the final report of the commission on widening access A Blueprint to Fairness, external.

The report was published last March.

Dame Ruth says 12 good people joined her on the commission to give a 360-degree view of access.

She says these people were there in their own independent rights.

Dame Ruth says there were five key principles the commission worked towards, that the work would be:

• systemic
• appreciative
• analytic
• evidence based
• collaborative

Dame Ruth Silver says the defecit is placed on the individual learner.

The good news is that there is a decade of good work in widening access and professionals just need pulled together, she says.

Dame Ruth says the good practice that is there must be taken forward.

She says: "Sorry we wrote you a long report, we didn't have time to write a short one."

Chair of the Commission on Widening Access Dame Ruth Silver says she has been longing to come before the committee.

On widening access Dame Ruth says: "Scotland knows how to do this and knows how to do it very well."

Dame Ruth says the state the system is in at the moment is very exiting in some parts and very stale in others. 

In its interim report, published in November 2015, external, the Commission on Widening Access found the following issues.

Image source, The Commission on Widening Access

In its first evidence session, the Education Committee will hear from the Commission on Widening Access.

The Committee will take evidence from:

• Dame Ruth Silver (Chair)
• Maureen McKenna
• Professor Petra Wend

The commission's final report A Blueprint for Fairness made 34 recommendations around four key issues:

1. a whole system approach
2. embracing new talent
3. supporting learners
4. the architecture to support fair access   

*source SPICe