Oxford: private pupil advantage

By Olivia Goldhill

 

 

 

Despite Government pressure on universities to diversify their admissions, it emerged that bright candidates from fee-paying schools were around 25 per cent more likely to get in to the ancient institution last year.

 

It was also revealed that black and Asian pupils with decent grades had a significantly lower success rate than their white counterparts.

 

The disclosure is made in data released under the Freedom of Information Act relating to candidates’ AS-level grades – exams taken half-way through A-level courses and just before Oxford candidates are considered by the university.

 

It comes amid continuing criticism of admissions systems run by top universities.

 

Last month, budding law student Elly Nowell sent Oxford a mocking “rejection letter” after being interviewed at Magdalen College. She criticised the process as "torture" and the university as "rude" for not even providing a glass of water.

  

It was the same college at the centre of a row in 2000 when academics refused a place to Laura Spence, a former comprehensive pupil with five As at A-level, in a move described by Gordon Brown as an "absolute scandal". 

But the university insisted that the latest data failed to take into account the academic differences between candidates.

 

A spokeswoman said that Oxford did not select students based on AS grades but used a number of factors, including predicted A-level grades, performance in interviews and aptitude tests.

 

She added: “Two candidates from different school backgrounds who have performed the same in all aspects of the selection system would have the same chance of getting a place, regardless of their school.

 

“Selection is not based solely on A-level results. Two people with same A-level results will have different GCSE results, perform differently on pre-interview aptitude tests, and show different potential in interview.”

 

Some 5,300 applicants with three A grades at AS-level applied to Oxford last year. Among privately-educated students, 29 per cent of top students were given places but only 23 per cent of those with the same grades from state schools got in.

 

Among the 3,888 white pupils who applied with A grades, 28 per cent were offered places last year, figures show.

 

Other ethnic groups had a far lower acceptance rate. 

Some 67 black African students with top grades applied and just 13 – a fifth – were given places. Students from Chinese, Indian or other Asian backgrounds had a similar success rate while only five per cent of Bangladeshi and Pakistani students gained admission.

 

Last year, Nick Clegg accused Oxford and Cambridge of being effectively biased against poor pupils, saying they had to ensure “British society is better reflected” in their admissions to justify state funding.

 

But the university insisted that white pupils were more than twice as likely as black pupils to gain three A grades at A-level. It was also pointed out that privately-educated teenagers account for a third of those gaining straight As, despite making up just 14 per cent of entries. Telegraph