The COVID-19 pandemic poses significant challenges for higher education across the UK. This year's cohort of university applicants now face months of uncertainty, as they try to make decisions on their future amid exam cancellations and a new system to determine grades, all without face-to-face support from their school. For students currently attending university, there are challenges too: delivery has shifted online, but not all students will be equally able to access that content, and many are also facing financial insecurity due to the economic impacts of the pandemic. This report is the second of a series of impact briefs released by the Sutton Trust in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, examining the ramifications of the current crisis on university applicants and current undergraduate students, with a focus on young people from less advantaged backgrounds. The brief looks at how schools, universities and government can lessen the impact of the crisis on these students, to help ensure all young people, no matter their background, continue to have the opportunity to both access and succeed at university. [For "COVID-19 and Social Mobility Impact Brief #1: School Shutdown. Research Brief," see ED605807.]