This paper explores the use of geodemographic classifications to investigate the social, economic and spatial dimensions of participation in higher education. Education is a public service that confers very significant and tangible benefits upon receiving individuals: as such, we argue that understanding the geodemography of educational opportunity requires an application-specific classification, that exploits under-used educational data sources. We develop a classification for the UK higher

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... cation sector, and apply it to the Gospel Oak area of London. We discuss the wider merits of sector specific applications of geodemographics, with particular reference to issues of public service provision.