I’m Scottish. There’s not a lot I can do about it, even if some Sassenachs find it a problem. Fortunately for those who do, my countrymen are disproportionately rare at this university. While sex, economic background and ethnicity are scrutinised as part of the Government’s Access agenda, scant regard is paid to the regional origins of students. The under-representation of students from outside London and the South East is surprising, but by far the most under-represented region, in both applications and admissions, is Scotland.

Why this disparity? Scotland differs from the rest of the UK – and not just in admission statistics. Admittedly, all regions have their variations, but history, politics and culture have made the area north of the border a wee bit more distinctive than elsewhere. As far as university access is concerned, Scottish students are most distinguished by their public exam system. Yet despite the differences in secondary education, Scottish applicants have historically been roughly as successful as students from the rest of the UK. The issue is not the quality of the applicants, but the quantity.

Higher education funding is a problem of growing importance to prospective Scottish students. Scottish (and non-British EU) students do not have to pay tuition fees to study in Scotland. This is a cynical and unfair attempt by the Scottish National Party to discourage Scottish students from seeking higher education elsewhere as part of their wider secession agenda.

As tuition fees hit £9,000, the short-term economic benefit is being shifted further against studying at Cambridge. This financial barrier is reinforced by the distance Scots must travel in order to reach their colleges. These deterrents make it vital that potential applicants be made aware that the benefits of studying at the best university in the country more than outweigh the disadvantages of longer journeys at the start and end of term. It is, after all, in the University’s interest to encourage Scottish students to apply – not only for political reasons but also for academic ones. It can only be good for Cambridge to tap into the pool of able students who live north of the border.

Even though the number of real and relative applications from Scotland has risen greatly over the last fourteen years, application numbers remain low. Given the abysmally low number of Scots at Cambridge, it would not be unreasonable to expect the University to increase its numbers. This does not, however, appear to be the case. The number of Area Contact Officers for Scotland (population: ~5.3 million) is matched by the number for Hackney (population: ~246,300 ) – each region has just one. This lack of effort on the part of the University contrasts heavily with the energy expended on the North West, which is served by 40 area contacts. Furthermore, Scotland shares its single contact with 14 other areas. A Scottish student looking at the admissions website is not going feel that Cambridge is seeking to build “an effective, coherent relationship” with their region. This is simply not good enough.

A cynic might suggest that the relatively homogeneous ethnic make-up and high(ish) employment rate of Scotland mean that the political dividends of Access work are not as great north of the border. Whatever the reasons (and I suspect them to be a lack of will and effort) the resources spent on Scotland are woeful. Admissions literature, for example, has Scottish qualifications playing second fiddle not just to A-levels, which is arguably fair enough, but also to the International Baccalaureate. This year’s University prospectus mentions both A-level and the IB on the first page about entrance requirements. Scottish Qualification requirements are found a page later in the more comprehensive list. This is odd given that in 2011 (the most recent data), 5,114 UK students sat the IB compared to 13,074 sitting Advanced Highers.

Access shouldn’t be about quotas. The University should take the best and brightest academically because they will benefit from and enjoy life here. Still, while Scotland fares worst by far, most of the UK’s regions are under-represented. Access issues to do with ethnicity, economic background and sex still need addressing. Were a fraction of the attention given to those more PC issues spent on encouraging applications from Scotland in particular, and the regions in general, the benefits would be tremendous. Cambridge has welcomed Scots in the past. It must act now to improve these figures. After all, it’s rather lonely in the bar at Six Nations time.