University places

Virtually all the extra places created at 13 leading universities since Labour came to power in 1997 have gone to state school pupils, a new report has shown.

The 13, including Oxford and Cambridge, now admit 33,575 students a year - 5,975 more than they did in 1997, according to the report by the Sutton Trust.

Over the same period, the number of state school pupils that they admitted rose by 5,888 - so only 87 places, or 1.4 per cent, went to independent school pupils.

Government Response: Department for Education and Skills

Kim Howells, higher education minister, said: "It is a shame that this year's benchmarks caused such a storm. The fact is our universities are getting better at opening up their doors to a wider group of students and this Sutton Trust report is the proof.

 

"I am looking at the benchmarks to see if there if there is any way they can be improved and better understood by all people concerned."

 

Stakeholder Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers

 

ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: "Despite the figures from the Sutton Trust showing an increase in the number of state school students entering the top universities, we call on the government to tackle the deep-rooted inequalities that come out of the reliance on student loans rather than grants.

 

"Students who are debt-averse are still being deterred from entering higher education.