Recent changes in English higher education (HE) admissions policies and financial support have sought to increase diversity among university entrants. It is anticipated that, as more young people from different backgrounds choose to go to university, a greater proportion will choose to study at local higher education institutions (HEIs), rather than move away. I review the evidence for a trend to more localised study among English HE students. Analysis of admissions data shows that HE expansion has been concomitant with less interregional student mobility. However, despite the fact that a smaller proportion of students are moving away to university, the expectation that going to university means moving away continues to shape students' experiences of and attitudes to university life. I unpack the taken-for-granted assumptions about student mobility and transitions to independence and adulthood. Drawing on analysis of interview data with students, I explore how assumptions about student mobilities are socially and culturally coconstituted and how student mobility has become established as an elite practice within English HE.

Recent policy shifts in higher education impact on the diversity of student experiences, one such trend is an increase in the number of students staying in their parental home for the duration of their studies. This has implications for students' experiences of university life, particularly non-academic aspects. Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of practice and habitus, this papers explores how young people go about fitting in to 'being a student', and how predispositions to university life influence these practices. Residential status emerges as a key demarcating factor in how successfully students feel they adapt to being at university. Though related to class, this cannot be explained solely by the socio-economic background of students living at home, but rather reflects both practical problems faced by these students as well as difficulties in incorporating a student habitus while living at home.

No abstract

The restructuring of higher education (HE) fi nance and concomitant expansion of HE in England have implications for how students are recruited and their experiences of HE. While universities continue to be dominated by traditional entrants, widening participation policies have enabled more students from less-advantaged backgrounds to study at university. One trend that is emerging as part of these activities is how the traditional expectation of leaving home to go to university is not necessarily being followed by 'non-traditional' entrants, and many choose to study at their local university. This has implications for their experiences of student life as they have to negotiate the assumption that students are not 'locals' and vice versa. This paper explores how the assumption of mutual exclusivity of local and student identities is produced and perpetuated through limited interactions between 'students' and 'locals' and the implications these have for local students, who may fi nd themselves isolated between the two communities.

No abstract