We estimate the accretion rates of 235 Classical T Tauri star ( CTTS ) candidates in the Lagoon Nebula using ugri H \alpha photometry from the VPHAS+ survey .
Our sample consists of stars displaying H \alpha -excess , the intensity of which is used to derive accretion rates .
For a subset of 87 stars , the intensity of the u -band excess is also used to estimate accretion rates .
We find the mean variation in accretion rates measured using H \alpha and u -band intensities to be \sim 0.17 dex , agreeing with previous estimates ( 0.04-0.4 dex ) but for a much larger sample .
The spatial distribution of CTTS align with the location of protostars and molecular gas suggesting that they retain an imprint of the natal gas fragmentation process .
Strong accretors are concentrated spatially , while weak accretors are more distributed .
Our results do not support the sequential star forming processes suggested in the literature .