Universities which are forced to lower grades for less well-off students have complained that they will plummet down league tables as a result.

Top institutions are concerned about the “reputational damage” that could ensue from making lower offers to disadvantaged students, according to a new report.

Universities are under increasing pressure from the Government to increase the number of students from deprived backgrounds.

Under the current fees system, any English university wishing to charge tuition fees of over around £6,000 must have an “access and participation plan” approved by the universities regulator, the Office for Students (OfS).

This sets out what the university intends to do to recruit and retain youngsters from disadvantaged families. A widely used method to help to boost diversity is making “contextual offers”, where universities request lower A-level grades from poor students as a condition of entry compared to those demanded of their wealthier peers.

But some Russell Group universities are concerned about the impact this will have on their standing in league tables, according to a report published by the University of Exeter.

Researchers from Exeter’s Centre for Social Mobility interviewed officials from nine of the country’s top institutions including Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, and the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.