The proportion of young university entrants from the poorest parts of Scotland has fallen slightly, according to new figures.

A total of 22,374 Scottish-based under-21s started full-time undergraduate courses in 2015/16, of which 10.4% came from the 20% most deprived communities.

The percentage is the same as in 2013/14 and slightly down on 10.8% the following academic year.

The Scottish Funding Council data shows the proportion of students coming from the 40% most deprived areas has also remained at around 25% over that period.

The Scottish Government's Commission on Widening Access wants students from the 20% most deprived backgrounds to represent 20% of entrants to higher education by 2030, with an interim target of 15.5% by 2019/20.

NUS Scotland has warned that the targets would be missed by decades unless "immediate, bold and ambitious" action was taken, including more investment from universities, colleges and government.

President Vonnie Sandlan said: "These are incredibly disappointing figures, and show just how far we still have to go to secure our ambitions on fair access.

"Education is a transformative experience, and the responsibility to ensure that it's in reach for every child in Scotland, with the potential to succeed, is incumbent on us all - but these regressive figures suggest that's far from the reality, and those young people are still being left behind."

She added: "It also shouldn't be forgotten that these figures relate to years where our universities were provided with additional funded places specifically for fair access, yet we've seen no progress.

"That shows that it's not just about investment, but serious efforts on the part of the institutions."

Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said: "Today's data on university entrants from the most deprived backgrounds follows a drop in 2015 in the number of students from the most deprived backgrounds who applied to university.

"This has to change if we are to see meaningful progress.

"The good news is that the drop in applicants appears to be a blip and the numbers applying to university from SIMD20 areas has grown since then.

"Universities will do all they can to encourage ambition, to support attainment and to recognise potential in applicants of all backgrounds to give students much deserved opportunities."

John Kemp, interim chief executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said: ''There is positive news in today's data - for example university application rates from the most deprived areas in Scotland are improving.

"That said, the figures on young entrants to full-time degrees are disappointing.

"Inclusion of data on older and part-time students would increase the percentage from the most deprived areas.

"But the data published today makes clear there remains a lot to be done, and it will be a top priority for us to work with the new Commissioner for Fair Access, the Scottish Government and with every university in Scotland to use these figures in guiding what we need to do next."

Higher education minister Shirley-Anne Somerville said: "We know we have much more work to do on widening access, and since this cohort applied to university we have committed to implementing the recommendations from the Commission on Widening Access and appointed our Fair Access Commissioner, Professor Peter Scott, to drive this agenda across the country.

"The most recent budget settlement showed that, overall, national investment in education and skills will increase by £170 million this coming year.

"For the sixth year in succession, we are investing more than £1 billion in higher education in 2017/18 and we have increased college funding by £41.4 million - 5.9% (in real terms) in 2017/18."