Oxbridge faces claims of bias in favour of Home Counties

OXBRIDGE has been accused of elitism after data showed it has more students from the Home Counties than from the North of England.

Almost half of offers given out between 2010 and 2015 were to applicants from London and the South East. Less than one in five went to those from the North of England, with around one in 10 to students from the Midlands.

The data, released after a Freedom of Information request by David Lammy, the Labour MP, shows that both Oxford and Cambridge gave 48 per cent of offers to applicants from London and the South East. Between 2010 and 2015 only three of Oxford’s 32 colleges made an offer to a black A-level applicant every year. Less than 1 per cent of Cambridge offers went to Pakistani applicants, and, in 2015, 14 of Cambridge’s 29 colleges did not make a single offer to a Pakistani applicant.

Mr Lammy said the geographical and regional divide was “shocking”, and both Oxford and Cambridge were “failing to live up to their responsibilities as national universities”. Both universities said poor school results were a barrier for underprivileged students.

A spokesman for Oxford said: “On the whole, the areas sending few students to Oxford tend also to be the areas with high levels of disadvantage and low levels of attainment in schools. Rectifying this is going to be a long journey that requires huge, joined-up effort across society.”