Image source, bbc

Green MSP Ross Greer raises the issue of young people with additional support needs, saying disadvantaged pupils are far likely to have ASN.

Commission On Widening Access chair Dame Ruth Silver says the pre-fresher summer weeks can help get people to university.

Dame Ruth says this is compensatory education in its true sense.

She says we must not widen access to failure.

Labour MSP Johann Lamont says the college sector has been cut and asks if this was considered.

Dame Ruth says this is what happens when you are not protected by the law or the queen.

She says this has made huge holes in access but there was no recommendations on it because it is policy led. 

Ms Lamont says she has grave reservations around the college sector due to funding.

Dame Ruth says she shares the same concerns over colleges this is policy led and funding led. 

Ms Lamont says "it is not my policy and not my government."

SNP MSP Colin Beattie asks how colleges fit in with suggestions.

Dame Ruth says they are key in the whole ladder of access.

Professor Petra Wend says barriers need to be removed to give the child the right pathway for them.

Prof Wend says children must know about all the possibilities about where they can go.

She says there are a number of bridging programmes and what they all have in common is the message that university is an option. 

Commission On Widening Access chair Dame Ruth Silver says more people go onto university here than in the other three nations.

SNP MSP Fulton MacGregor asks if there has been a difference detected between those who have been planning for university their whole life and those who have decided to apply later.

Maureen McKenna says institutions offer their own summer schools but there should perhaps be one summer school to prepare pupils for university.

Ms McKenna says it is about making university more accessible to more people.

She says family learning must be encouraged and there needs to be more flexibility around access to institutions.

"There has to be more pathways," into higher education she says. 

SNP MSP Gillian Martin asks about the role of colleges in higher education.

Prof Wend says courses taught in colleges do not only feed universities. 

She says colleges need to do more work in making sure their courses fit.

Prof Wend says it is important to remember colleges offer courses to prepare people for work and life, not just to feed universities. 

Dame Ruth Silver of the Commission On Widening Access says all of the problems are cracked at some place or other in Scotland. 

Dame Ruth says prejudice against students from deprived areas is a problem.

She says work is going on reaching back down the system to address this.

Tory MSP Ross Thomson asks how we avoid displacing able students as there is more demand for places.

Professor Petra Wend says it is not right to say that we need another 20% of places but it is the case that some students may be squeezed out and this must be addressed.

Dame Ruth says there is displacement now, "you have bright young students who are not wearing the right badge."

Image source, SIMD

The stark contrast of poverty and wealth in Scotland's towns and cities has been illustrated in an interactive map of deprivation.

The Scottish Index of Multiple of Deprivation (SIMD) named Ferguslie Park in Paisley as the most deprived area of the country.

But the maps show that there are pockets of deprivation in most of Scotland's urban areas.

• Check the map for your area here, external

They highlight the most deprived areas in red, while the least deprived are dark blue.

Professor Petra Wend from the Commission On Widening Access says contextualised admissions is being looked at.

Maureen McKenna says the commission did not have the time to take the indicators and make a final decision about which to use. 

Ms McKenna says there is a tension between an institutional approach and a systemic approach.

She says there needs to be more of a systemic approach whilst remembering every individual person.

Image source, bbc

Labour MSP Johann Lamont says the cumulative effect of deprivation must be taken into account.

Professor Petra Wend from the Commission On Widening Access says she agrees but a basket of measures must be taken into account, like rurality.

Prof Wend says it is not always the case that low performing schools are in SIMD 20 areas.

Maureen McKenna from the Commission on Widening Access says a report on the impact for access is sitting with the SFC at the moment.

Professor Petra Wend says the should be a unique learner number assigned to each child so that their learner journey can be measured.

Prof Wend says we need to look at other ways of measuring data on deprivation. 

The Scottish Labour party and the Scottish government are at loggerheads over the number of people from deprived areas going to university.

Labour have claimed the gap between the the number of students from the richest and poorest areas has widened.

The government insisted the number of 18-year-olds from deprived areas going to university was at a record level.

Image source, CHRIS ISON

It recently appointed Professor Peter Scott as commissioner for fair access to higher education in Scotland.

His role will be "to support disadvantaged learners and drive change across the system".

The Scottish government has said it wants to see a big rise in the number of people from deprived areas who go to university.

Image source, bbc

Tory MSP Liz Smith says Dame Ruth Silver was clear that data was an issue of concern.

Ms Smith asks about the data that supports the commission's findings and the government's targets.

Dame Ruth Silver says there is very good data in strands about sectors but there was no way of working it together.

Dame Ruth says there had never been common cause before the commission brought people together.