Analysis: Going to university can be more a question of culture than cash

We have to look at why people go to university and it's really a cultural issue. University educated parents tend to have children who go onto university.

If there is a stock of Scottish parents who didn't go to university then this inequality can be reproduced generation after generation.

Scotland might not have tuition fees, but the issue is not just one of money and extra financial support for those who might want to attend universities. The issue is more about aspiration and nurture and whether people are encouraged to go to university. For people with no history of higher education in their family or among their fiends, going to university can be social suicide.

For people who have never had a member of their family going to university, the thought of going can be intimidating.

But there are also a number of other issues that influence people going into higher education.

One example is that of alcohol abuse, which can hamper ambition. We know men and women in Scotland are twice as likely to die from alcohol related conditions than those in England.

Other reasons for why people don't go to university could include family breakdowns and welfare dependency.

All of these things stop there being a level playing field and make it harder for some people to go to university.

• Dr Samantha Callan is the head of research at the Centre for Social Justice in London.