Oxbridge still falling short of state-educated admittance benchmark

Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, Queen's University Belfast, Sheffield and Southampton were the only Russell Group universities to exceed their targets; with universities in Wales and Northern Ireland all exceeding their targets.

In 2008-2009 benchmarks, set by the bodies which fund universities, set the target of just under 70% of new full-time undergraduates to be from state schools. Nearly 55% of Oxford’s new undergraduates were from state schools, with 59% at Cambridge.

Data released HESA show both universities have increased their proportion of state school pupils admitted, with 57% to Cambridge and 53% to Oxford in 2007-2008, but are still falling short of targets set.

A spokeswoman for Cambridge University said that they are welcoming the way in which this year’s performance indicators reflect its efforts on widening participation and that the university makes great efforts to ensure that bright students from all backgrounds are admitted:

“State sector admissions reaching a high point of 59.3%, up more than 2 percentage points on the previous year’s figures.”

A spokeswoman for the University of Oxford deliberated that there are many economic and social factors which can prevent students reaching their full academic potential:

“For our part, we are doing our utmost to encourage academic ambition from a young age by working with students from 11 up, and by working closely with parents and teachers.”