Aberdeen University has launched a new scheme to attract students from poorer backgrounds.
The university is now offering applicants a free year in its halls of residence, wich usually costs between £3,861 and £5,733.
However, the offer is only available to students who live in a postcode region deemed as among the most deprived 20% in the country.
The university hopes it will attract enough students from poor backgrounds to hit strict Scottish Government targets, which require all universities to have 10% of all new undergraduates from areas classed as disadvantaged by 2021.
The free accommodation scheme was introduced last year.
This year, 33 students have taken up the offer, at a cost to the university of around £200,000.
So far, 191 aspiring students have applied for free rooms for the next academic year.
A spokesman for the university said the scheme is aimed at encouraging young academics who might otherwise struggle to move away from home to enjoy a “fuller university experience” and save their money for later years of study.
The Scottish Government, meanwhile, said: “We welcome innovative ideas and we are interested to see if they translate into positive results.”
