SCOTTISH universities plan to launch a new nationwide system to attract more working class undergraduates to higher education.

Currently, most universities run schemes such as summer schools for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to earn a place at their campuses, but the credits earned are not transferable.

Under the new proposals universities would work together to ensure students who successfully completed an access programme in one part of the country could gain entry to another university elsewhere in Scotland.

The news comes as Nicola Sturgeon unveiled her Programme for Government in with fairer access to university a central pillar.

The First Minister said she would appoint a Widening Access Commissioner to spearhead change within the next few weeks and also said a major review of student support would take place in October.

The SNP has already attracted criticism for cutting bursaries for poor students.

Ms Sturgeon said: “I can also confirm that, from the next academic year, care experienced young people will be entitled to full bursaries.”

Commenting on the drive to improve widening access programmes Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said current programmes were effective, but the challenge was to be “smarter” about how they could work “regionally and even nationally”.

He said: “We need to be replicating the best of what’s out there. For some students that will be about building the best pathways to universities in their areas.

“For others, there will be benefit in ensuring you can do a programme close to home and have it count towards your entry at another university on the other side of Scotland.

“If universities can create partnerships to deliver summer schools, rather than run two or three different ones in the same city, it could mean more places are available.”

The moves comes after all Scottish universities agreed to accept poorer students with lower exam grades as part of a bid to boost the number of working class undergraduates - a key recommendation of the recent Commission on Widening Access.

Part of the problem is that pupils from poorer backgrounds tend not to do as well in school exams as those from the middle classes and can find it difficult to enter higher education - which is highly competitive.

The commission, chaired by Dame Ruth Silver, recommended that a separate admissions system for disadvantaged pupils should be in place by 2019 which should reflect the minimum academic standards required to successfully complete a degree course.

The issue is a key priority for Ms Sturgeon, but recent figures have shown progress towards national targets has been painfully slow.

Although numbers of access students have improved in recent years just 1,335 school-leavers from the poorest 20 per cent of households went to university in Scotland in 2013/14 compared to 5,520 from the richest 20 per cent of communities.

By 2030, the Government wants to see a 20 per cent rise in the number of students from the poorest households attending university.