21 September 2007
One-sixth of students at the UK's top 13 universities are drawn from just 100, mostly fee-paying, schools, according to latest research from the Sutton Trust.
The educational charity this week published a new study, which analyses in detail the admissions data for 3,700 individual schools and colleges held by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.
The September 20 study found that, based on pupils' A-level scores, just half the expected number of comprehensive school pupils secured places at the high-performing, research-led universities.
The problem was particularly acute at Oxford and Cambridge, where a third of students came from the 100 elite schools. Just two comprehensives featured in that list.
Sutton Trust chair Sir Peter Lampl said: 'It is deeply worrying – not to mention a sad waste of talent – that the chances of reaching one of these highly selective universities are much greater for those who attend a small number of the country's elite schools,' he said.
'Where does this leave the vast majority of the population who do not have access to these opportunities?'
PFsep2007
