Parts of Great Yarmouth are some of the areas in the country seeing the most significant gap between expectations and university participation.

Data from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has ranked electoral wards in England according to the difference between the number of young people who would be expected to go on to higher education, according to their GCSE results, and those that actually do.

Wards in England have been divided into 10 groups, or deciles. Bradwell North and Claydon wards are in the lowest decile, with an 8pc and 7.3pc gap respectively between the number of young people who may have been expected to go on to higher education and the number who actually did.

Anglia Ruskin University's outreach team is using the data to ensure they are working in the right areas of the East of England to help people better understand the opportunities available.

Marc Rothera, senior outreach officer at Anglia Ruskin University said: 'This data suggests that there are some areas of our region where people are not fully informed about the education choices available to them. Whilst we recognise university isn't for everyone, and there are other opportunities, we will be using this new data to help guide our outreach activity and ensure young people are aware of the benefits of further study.

'Equally, plenty of people are now deciding to go to university later in life. We're keen to ensure everyone is aware of the benefits of higher education.'