Under a Scottish Government initiative to get more bright pupils from deprived backgrounds into higher education universities were given 727 extra funded places this year.

However, figures show ­Aberdeen University was unable to fill any of the additional 75 access places it was allocated. Overall, however, Scottish universities have made good progress under the initiative, with some 80% of the total places filled.

St Andrews University, in Fife, which has been criticised for its failure to widen access in the past, filled all of its 20 extra places.

Glasgow University recruited the most students from the 40% of poorest postcode areas, with 175 signed up from a total target of 200.

The higher education sector has also been successful at filling the 1020 extra places allocated under a separate route to encourage college students into a degree course – so-called articulation – with some 98% of the total reached.

A spokeswoman for Aberdeen University said 140 students from the poorest postcodes had been recruited this year and every effort had been made to fill the extra places.

The overall performance was welcomed by student representatives and the university sector.

Gordon Maloney, president of National Union Students NUS Scotland, said: "These figures offer some very positive signs that efforts to improve fair access are working. There are still some institutions that can clearly do better, with Aberdeen University in particular standing out, but there´s some great work going on right across institutions in Scotland."

Alastair Sim, director of ­Universities Scotland, which represents university principals, said universities had worked very hard to fill the extra places.

He said: "This means over 1600 students, living in the most deprived parts of Scotland, have started university this autumn or will be coming straight from college in a year or two´s time who might not otherwise have had the chance."

Currently, the middle classes dominate higher education and access initiatives have only gone a small way to redress the balance.

The Scottish Government has made it a priority for universities to improve rates of participation by pupils from deprived backgrounds after a decade of stagnation.

All institutions have been tasked with improving access under new outcome agreements with the Scottish Funding Council, with those that fail facing a funds reduction. The Government also provided 4 million of euros funding to pay for extra places to kick-start the initiative.