A decision to use the "wrong statistic" to measure the success of Aimhigher contributed to the demise of the national widening participation scheme, an academic has claimed.

The scheme was discontinued last July after its funding was axed by the government.

The closure followed comments that David Willetts, the universities and science minister, made in 2008 while he was in opposition about the "rather disappointing record of Aimhigher", which he said had "not yet succeeded in spreading university opportunities on the scale that we might have hoped". Read the full article here.