By Eric King-
Oxford and Cambridge University are discriminating against disadvantaged pupils, according to a newly released data.
Mp David Lammy, has released data showing a ”shocking regional bias” against the whole of Northern England, and children from poor families. Four-fifths of students accepted at Oxbridge between 2010 and 2015 had parents with top professional and managerial jobs, and the numbers have been edging upwards.
Mr Lammy said he was “appalled to discover” Oxbridge is actually moving backwards in terms of elitism.
Making reference data covering students in England and Wales in the years 2010 to 2015, he described the universities as the “last bastion of the old school tie” and highlighted stark regional divisions.
The data suggests that nationally about 31% of people are in the top two social income groups. They fall under the category of the doctors, the lawyers, the senior managers.
The data shows that families under these top two social classes cleaned up in terms of places, with their share of offers rising from 79% to 81% between 2010 and 2015. Official figures also show that both universities spent £5m each a year on efforts to cast the net wider for students.
The data on admissions by region provided by the universities themselves showed:
More than a quarter of Cambridge offers went to eight local authority areas
Just under a quarter of Oxford offers went to eight local authority areas
London and south-east England received 48% of offers from both Oxford and Cambridge
The Midlands received 11% of Oxford offers and 12% of Cambridge offers
The North West, the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber between them received 15% of Oxford offers and 17% of Cambridge offers
Oxford made about 100 offers to students in the whole of Wales
The data show the University of Cambridge to have made nearly 3,000 offers to students from four home counties, whilst 2,619 offers were made to the whole of the north of England. University of Oxford was not much different. They made 2,812 offers to applicants in five home counties and 2,619 to students in the whole of northern England. All this was despite the fact applications were significantly higher from both the counties surrounding London and around the universities themselves. However, the top universities believe the disproportionate offers of places can be traced back to poor results of students from the disadvantaged areas.
ACADEMIC CONSIDERATIONS
A spokesman for Cambridge said its admissions were based on academic considerations alone, adding that the greatest barrier to disadvantaged students was poor results.
“We currently spend £5m a year on access measures leading to 190,000 interactions with pupils and teachers.”
An Oxford spokesman said: “We absolutely take on board Mr Lammy’s comments, and we realise there are big geographical disparities in the numbers and proportions of students coming to Oxford.
“On the whole, the areas sending few students to Oxford tend also to be the areas with high levels of disadvantage and low levels of attainment in schools.
“Rectifying this is going to be a long journey that requires huge, joined-up effort across society – including from leading universities like Oxford – to address serious inequalities.”
Mr Lammy said the scale of the regional divide went far beyond anything he could have imagined.
He accused Oxbridge of failing to live up to its responsibilities as national universities, saying: “Oxbridge take over £800m a year from the taxpayer – paid for by people in every city, town and village.
“Whole swathes of the country – especially our seaside towns and the ‘left behind’ former industrial heartlands across the North and the Midlands are basically invisible.
“If Oxbridge can’t improve, then there is no reason why the taxpayer should continue to give them so much money.”
Mr Lammy added: “Whilst some individual colleges and tutors are taking steps to improve access, in reality many Oxbridge colleges are still fiefdoms of entrenched privilege, the last bastions of the old school tie.”
lAMMY called for a centralised admissions system to be introduced at the universities and for Oxbridge to communicate more directly with talented students by writing to all straight A students to invite them to apply.