Cambridge admits it needs help to boost black student numbers

SIX of Cambridge University’s colleges admitted fewer than 10 black British students in five years, and some admitted no black British students in several years, data have shown.

The figures come after the disclosure last month that one in four Oxford colleges did not admit a single black British student between 2015 and 2017.

Cambridge said that it could not change diversity “on its own” and called for parents and schools to help boost the number of under-represented minorities applying to colleges.

St Edmund’s College did not admit any black British students between 2012 and 2016, despite receiving between 31 and 35 applications from black candidates.

Magdalene College, which was the last Oxbridge college to admit women in 1988, received 40 applications from black British students in the same period but only made between three and nine offers. Downing College received 37 applications from black British students between 2014 and 2015 but made no offers. Fitzwilliam College was the only college to consistently make more than four offers to black British students in the 2012 to 2016 period.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Financial Times, were released by the university as ranges, because the small numbers involved meant that the anonymity of applicants could have been compromised.

“We are already doing a significant bit of outreach, but ultimately the university isn’t going to be able to bring about this change on its own. We need the support of schools and parents too,” the university told the Financial Times.

“More needs to be done to prepare high-achieving black students for applications to Cambridge and Oxford, which is why we have significantly increased funding we contribute to programmes like Target Oxbridge,” it added.

David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, who campaigns for diversity in British universities, said: “Cambridge, and every university in the country, should be publishing all their access and admissions data every year.

“We need transparency if we are going to have progress on access to our elite institutions for students from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds,” he said.

Last month, his information requests showed the lack of black British students at Oxford colleges. Mr Lammy also spoke out against the opacity of universities in not revealing data.