Access denied: Oxford admits more Westminster pupils than black students

First-ever undergraduate admissions report reveals stark realities of Oxford’s access problem

Oxford admitted more pupils from Westminster School than black students in 2017, Cherwell can reveal.

49 students from the London independent school accepted offers to study at the University last year, while only 48 black students were admitted.

Cherwell’s analysis of the University’s first-ever undergraduate admissions report also shows that:

17 of the top 20 schools for Oxford admissions are fee-paying

There is still a huge disparity between colleges in terms of access data

BME students typically apply for the most oversubscribed courses

Privately-educated students apply for the most undersubscribed courses

Private domination

According to data obtained by Varsity, 17 of the top 20 schools for Oxford admissions in 2017 are fee-paying, while the other three are prestigious grammar schools.

Westminster School topped this list: out of 98 students that applied, 54 received offers, and 49 were eventually admitted to the University.

Eton College (45 students), St. Paul’s School (37), and King’s College School (31) were the other fee-paying schools to make up the top five, while Peter Symonds College in Winchester also sent 31 students.

Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge (26) and Pate’s Grammar School (17) were the only other non-fee-paying schools to send more than 15 students to Oxford last year.

However, the University did not give a breakdown of school types other than ‘state’ and ‘independent’ in its print report, despite the University of Cambridge releasing that data earlier this month. A spokesperson said that more specific data would be released online.