And yet, as we report today, some universities are not admitting candidates on merit alone. They are awarding places on the basis of a system that gives points to disadvantaged students for “contextual” factors, such as whether they attended a bad school or come from a poor area. In the case of Edinburgh University, for example, a sixth-former from a badly performing school who had gained three B grades at A-level could, boosted by the points system, find that his or her scores were worth more than three A* grades.