More pupils eligible for free school meals in Surrey went to university than ever before last year, new figures show.

It comes as the proportion of the most disadvantaged pupils going on to higher education across England fell for the first time, with the gap between them and their peers increasing to record levels.

Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said we are "sliding backwards" as a society in the post-pandemic era.

New Department for Education figures show 24.8% of year 11 pupils in the 2022-23 academic year who were eligible for free school meals when they were 15 in Surrey went on to enrol in higher education by the time they were 19.

This was more than the year before, when 22.7% did, and the highest figure since records began in 2005-06.

Meanwhile, the proportion of free school meal pupils going on to further study nationally fell for the first time having risen every year for the last 17.

As a result, the gap between the most and least disadvantaged children is now at a record high level.

In Surrey, free school meal pupils still lagged well behind their peers, as 54.4% of them progressed to higher education.

Professor Major said: "Record-level participation gaps between free school meal pupils and their more privileged peers are nothing short of a societal failure.

"The cherished principle that anyone, regardless of their background, can study for a degree is becoming a distant dream.

"These statistics don’t lie: talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. We are in danger of failing a whole generation."

The figures also showed the proportion of free school meal pupils going to university varied between regions.

Just under half (48.6%) of free school meals pupils in London went to university by the age of 19 last year, compared with around a fifth in the South West (18.8%).

In the South East, 21.7% of these pupils progressed.

Meanwhile, across England the proportion of black pupils getting to university by the age of 19 fell from 63.5% to 62.4%.

Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust charity, said: "The pandemic had a profound impact on all young people’s schooling, but hit those in disadvantaged families particularly hard, at the same time as increasing financial pressures for low-income households.

"We saw a big jump in higher education attendance over this time, but the increase was mostly among students from more advantaged backgrounds.

"There is some evidence that universities tried to protect admissions from less advantaged young people, but at the time they lacked access to data about applicants’ free school meals eligibility, and therefore couldn’t effectively prioritise the poorest pupils in their admissions policies."

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said "breaking the link between where a young person grows up, and the opportunities they have" is central to the Government's mission.

"This data exposes entrenched inequalities that have been left to worsen year on year – for the gap in access to university between disadvantaged students and their peers to be the highest on record is appalling," she added.

"We all have a role to play in putting that right but when it comes to access to higher education for disadvantaged students, universities can and must do more."