The university admissions clearing house Ucas has ordered an investigation after discovering that its process for investigating fraud was far more likely to demand proof of claims from black applicants than white ones. Figures obtained by a freedom of information request found that last year, one in every 100 black British applicants were subject to additional queries by Ucas staff, compared with just one in more than 2,000 white British applicants.

The data, published by the Independent, showed that 419 black British applicants were asked to supply documents or further proof to support their applications, compared with 181 white British applicants – despite the total number of white applicants being 340,000 higher.

The verification process used by Ucas relied on two forms of computer software as well as university admissions staff flagging applications for further investigation. Ucas said ethnicity data was not part of the verification process.



Angela Rayner, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said the figures required urgent investigation. “This shocking practice highlights just how pervasive institutional racism is across the higher education sector. Ucas has been completely unable to justify this discriminatory practice,” she said. “Ucas must urgently investigate this and make clear what steps will be taken to end the racial profiling of students.”

The highlighting of black students’ applications follows weeks of controversy over immigration, especially involving the Windrush generation, and the consequences of the government’s “hostile environment” to suspected illegal immigrants.

The figures did not include cases where black students voluntarily withdrew their university applications after being targeted by Ucas staff.

The Labour MP David Lammy said the evidence suggested that “unconscious bias may well be a factor” within the Ucas process. “Questions clearly have to be asked about what is behind this disproportionality within the Ucas verification system, and why applications made by black students are more likely to be flagged and investigated,” he told the Independent.

Helen Thorne, the director of external relations for Ucas, promised an external audit of the process, including an investigation into how the verification service requires applicants to provide original documentation or additional information to disprove fraud.

“While we are confident about the integrity of our verification processes – which are regularly reviewed – this analysis showed that they are flagging a comparatively higher number of black applicants,” Thorne said.

“This a matter of concern to us, and we are now carrying out further analysis to understand what is driving this pattern of results. Our findings will be independently audited and published, together with details of what action we may take, if any.

“We are also preparing to start publishing annual statistics about the numbers of applications flagged and cancelled by our verification service, including breakdowns by applicant characteristics.”

In recent months, black students have reported a spate of racist abuse and harassment on campuses, including a Nottingham Trent university student who reported a group of men chanting “We hate the blacks” outside her dormitory.



Figures issued this month by the Office for Students show that black students are less likely to succeed at university than other groups. The proportion of black students awarded a first or a 2:1 degree class is 22 percentage points lower than for white students.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We want to make sure that students have access to our world-class universities, no matter what their background or race. And while we have seen record entry rates at universities across all ethnic groups, we recognise there is more to do.”