The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) ‘Fair Access’ Conference took place in the impressive Perth Conference Hall on Wednesday. It brought to the fore an increased recognition of the many challenges that face students from poorer backgrounds. The Scottish Government has set out on the long road to a place where fair access may come about. But their map lacks detail about what lies ahead and the road will become steeper and more difficult if the post-code illusion leads them astray. Political optimism. The Scotland Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Richard Lochhead concentrated on the headline successes in widening participation in recent years; as detailed in the recently released ‘Commissioner for Fair Access annual report 2019: building on progress towards fair access’. As he stressed in another speech back in May, at the launch of the Scottish Government’s Fair Access Framework , he emphasised again that “Scotland is ahead of the curve in delive