Leading private schools have urged Cambridge University to measure disadvantage "intelligently” after it emerged that record numbers of state school pupils will be admitted this academic year.

More than 68 per cent of British students who will begin studying at the ancient institution this autumn are from the state sector. The number represents a “significant” three per cent rise on the previous year and an increase of almost 10 per cent since 2011.

Both Cambridge and Oxford have come under increasing pressure to accept more pupils from state schools and has each introduced various schemes to improve diversity.

One in four students starting at Cambridge this year will be from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds, according to provisional data.

The gradual changes mean that the proportion of privately-educated students taking up places is falling.

Mike Buchanan, executive director at the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) which represents the country's leading schools including Eton and Harrow, said: "Pupils at HMC schools are, and will continue to be, highly successful in gaining places at the most academically selective universities, including Cambridge.