Poor students struggle to attend top universities

For the first time the government has compiled figures for the proportion of pupils, claiming free school meals and taking A-levels or equivalent courses at year 11, that go on to university.

Figures show 46 per cent went on to university during the 2010/11 academic year. But for Oxford and Cambridge the proportion plummets to just 0.1 per cent.

Among Russell Group universities, which are regarded as among the best in the country and include Bristol and Durham universities as well as Oxbridge, only four per cent of those eligible for free school meals got an undergraduate place.

The government has started to compile the figures as part of a commitment to ensure “every child regardless of their background, their circumstances or their social class” gets an “equal opportunity to progress to Britain’s top universities”.

The figures will be collected each year and used as an indicator as to whether government education policies are raising standards.

Figures for the 2012/13 year will be the first to take into account the coalition government’s policy of allowing universities to raise tuition fees to £9,000 a year.

Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, said: “About one in three Russell Group students get a bursary or scholarship and we invest millions every year in outreach and related activities.”

She added though that poor academic achievement among disadvantaged pupils in schools was a key factor, citing figures for 2009 showing only 232 students eligible for free school meals achieved three A grades at A-level or equivalent.

A 2010 Office for Fair Access report found that the most advantaged 20 per cent of young people are seven times more likely to attend the UK’s most selective universities than the 40 per cent most disadvantaged.