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Oxford Offers to State School Students Rises Again

Some feel that our elite universities fall short when it comes to diversity in their placing selection. In particular, Oxford has had their annual applicants list scrutinised, and a lack of students from state schools noted. In a bid to change that, the university has sought to implement schemes to improve the situation over the last few years.

 

Improvements Made

Following pressure, both Oxford and Cambridge have implemented outreach programmes to improve applicants from state schools. Of particular note, Oxford’s outreach programmes have proven particularly successful.

Responding to accusations of social exclusion, the university invested heavily in appealing to students from state schools. This year, they revealed that 60% of places for the current academic year went to students from this demographic. That was an increase from 55.6% last academic year. At the time of publication of the report (early September), it wasn’t clear how many would accept places; take-up could have been higher.

A spokesperson said that the university takes diversity very seriously and will continue to strive to offer places to students not from privileged backgrounds. However, comparing figures from the 1970s, the university was keen to point out that there was less social mobility in the past than there has been in recent years.

 

More To Be Done?

Although 60% sounds high and is a marked improvement, it is important to remember that just 7% of the population go to public or private schools; 93% of children go to state schools. According to government statistics, 235,000 students were accepted into any university place in England & Wales in the last academic year. That’s around 35% of the population. Data is not available for Scotland as not all institutions use the UCAS system, but it is likely to be a similar proportion.

However, the standard of education is not equal between state schools and public / private schooling. The better standard of education of fee-paying schools means that many are more likely to go on to do A-Levels and more are likely to go on to university.

 

About Oxford University’s Outreach

Oxford University claims that it spends £6m annually on reaching out to potential students coming from state schools. In order to drive the continued increase in numbers, they set aside around £10m every year for financial support for those from less prosperous backgrounds.

Particularly, the UNIQ Summer School scheme is specifically for students from state schools, focusing on schools and areas that have been traditionally under-represented at the university. It is a free school for prospective students, subject to GCSE grade qualifications. They will attend a series of lectures on the subject they hope to study and workshops to help them apply. It’s aim is to give a realistic presentation of university life in Oxford. There are 875 student places each year and over 5,000 applicants to fill them.