Yinan Wang, the 14-year-old Chinese boy who clinched a place at Oxford University last week, will be the last child prodigy to study there under reforms being considered by admissions tutors.

Despite an almost perennial flurry of headlines on children barely in their teens being offered places, the university is considering an unprecedented blanket rule on minimum ages for undergraduates.

'The admissions executive is in discussions around whether we should introduction a minimum age of 17 for undergraduates,' confirmed Ruth Collier, a spokesperson for admissions to Oxford. 'We have been pushed to consider it, not because of concerns about whether it is psychologically healthy for children to study here, but because of child protection laws which have come into play this year for the first time.'

Oxford is the only university in Britain that currently accepts undergraduates who are under the age of 17. Individual colleges decide which candidates they will accept as undergraduates, but Collier confirms that age is rarely, if ever, a factor.

'It's up to each college who they accept, but if you're the best student for the place and are 14 years old, then the general attitude is "so be it",' said Collier. 'We have always said our policy is entirely non-discriminatory and we are proud of that openness, which we consider crucial to Oxford's ethos, but we have discovered this year that there are heavy costs in having that policy.'

The Children Act, the biggest shake-up in child protection law in 30 years, which was introduced last March, gives all those who work with children a legal duty to protect the young.

'Because no other university accepts children, the government have produced no guidance on how higher education establishments should implement it,' said Collier. 'We are studying it very hard and worrying a great deal about how we should do it, which is taking up a great deal of time and coming at a cost.'

Collier lists concerns including not leaving children on their own with adults and making sure that any teachers with whom they come into contact have had a criminal records check.

Children can no longer live in student accommodation, because the university could not carry out a criminal record check on every other undergraduate sharing the same premises.

'Suddenly we can't offer one-to-one tutorials, while the people who do administration in our colleges have to spend a great deal of time making absolutely sure they are not inadvertently placing a child in a potentially dangerous situation with anyone who hasn't had a criminal records check,' she added.

Collier is unable to discuss individual cases, such as that of Yinan Wang, but she added: 'This is the first year we have had someone quite so young since the new laws have come in, and some people have been shocked by how much is involved.

'The problem is that we can't alter the environment here; we can't lay on special measures for younger students. We're used to operating as an institution for adults.'

A former pupil at Copland Community College in Brent, north-west London - one of the country's biggest comprehensive schools - Wang will read material sciences at Corpus Christi after gaining A-grade passes in maths, further maths and physics last week.

The 14-year-old is one of the youngest students at Oxford since Ruth Lawrence, who became its youngest-ever maths graduate in 1982, aged 12. However, Wang overcame the additional challenge of being unable to speak English when he arrived in the UK two years ago.

Mark Wormald, the admissions tutor at Corpus Christi, said he would welcome a university-wide ruling on a suitable age for undergraduates.

'On a case-by-case basis, it is difficult for us to take a view on the best age for undergraduates,' he said.

'If a parent comes to us to say coming here is the best thing for their child, it is quite difficult for us to argue against that because there is no blanket policy. If possible, we like to have a consensus with all colleges regarding age,' he added.