London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 30, 2025

Irish Travellers: Apologises over wrong data in education report

Irish Travellers: Apologises over wrong data in education report

A think tank has apologised for using the wrong data in a report into Irish Travellers' access to higher education.

On Thursday, a Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) report into the education of Gypsy, Roma and Irish Travellers in the UK was released.

It said Irish Travellers still faced "barriers when accessing mainstream education" and called for support.

However, the proportion of Irish Travellers who enter university in the UK is higher than the report suggested.

Recent research by the European Union suggested Irish Travellers suffer some of the worst discrimination and poverty of any ethnic group in Europe.

HEPI is a UK-wide independent think tank which focuses on higher education.

The Higher Education Policy Institute is correcting the report


Its report looked mainly at the barriers to education for members of the Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller communities in the UK.

It reflected the experiences of children and young people from the Irish Traveller community in pre-school, school and higher and further education.

It concluded that improving Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller "access to and participation in UK education requires sustained, long-term focus and solutions".

But a central claim in the report was that fewer than 4% of Irish Traveller students and about 6% of young people from Gypsy and Roma communities in the UK entered higher education.

The institute has now said those figures were "incorrect" and the rates of entry are higher.

They have clarified that 10.7% of Irish Travellers in the UK access higher education by the age of 19, and 6.9% of Gypsy or Roma young people.

That is still much lower than the overall rate for the UK, where about 37% of all 18-year-olds enter higher education.

In Northern Ireland rates of entry are even higher, with a record proportion of school leavers starting university during the past two years.


'Embarrassing'


In a statement to BBC News NI, the director of HEPI Nick Hillman apologised for the error.

"The general point that Gypsy, Roma and Travellers all have extremely low rates of entry to higher education remains unchanged and the rest of the report stands," he said.

"The correct data shows it is not true to say that Irish Travellers do even worse in terms of entry to higher education than those classified in the data as Gypsy or Roma.

"This is embarrassing for us, as we are an evidence-led organisation, but we are committed to correcting any errors as and when they occur."

The institute is correcting the report and has also contacted the education select committee at Westminster to alert them to the error as that was the original source of the data used in the HEPI study.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
×