Education ministers have forced one of their own agencies to abandon targets to boost the number of working class students in higher education.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England had said that by 2005 only two universities should have five per cent fewer poorer students than was expected in similar institutions.

It was proposed that this limit would drop to three per cent by 2010.

But facing sustained media and opposition criticism over their plans for a university access regulator, ministers moved to force the agency to quash the targets.

Critics say the government is undermining access to universities based on merit.

But ministers have argued that assessing a candidate's potential as well as their academic results is a fair way of deciding on admissions.

In light of the latest row, officials said the HEFCE would "reconsider its position" ahead of the access strategy that education secretary Charles Clarke is expected to publish shortly.

But it is thought likely that the targets were disclosed to the Department for Education and Skills, suggesting that ministers have backed away from steps to widen the range of students entering higher education.

A department spokesman stressed that the proposals were "only a draft".

"Because the forthcoming document on access that the government will publish will set out the definitive position, in the light of this document HEFCE will reconsider its position on targets.

"We have said before that there are no plans by the government to introduce targets to reduce social class gaps in university participation," he added.

The Conservatives said the "cat has been let out of the bag" by the HEFCE.

"They would not have produced a five-year strategic plan without close consultation with ministers, and the fact that the department is trying to disown talk of targets at this late stage tells its own story," said shadow education secretary Damian Green.

"Ministers would like to introduce targets for university admission for different social groups, but don't want the rest of us to know about it.

"It is not surprising that universities and potential students are worried and confused about the chaos the government is creating in the university admissions system."