...Which I do. However, i think this study is more of indicator of what a load of bullshit the phrase "equality of opportunity" is. Clearly, with economic equality there simply is no equality.


Private school students are 55 times more likely to win a place at Oxbridge and 22 times more likely to go to a top-ranked university than students at state schools who qualify for Free School Meals (FSM)[1].

The latest research from the Sutton Trust calculates that less than one student in a hundred admitted to Oxbridge between 2005 and 2007 had been an FSM pupil. There were only 130 FSM pupils out of 16,110 students in total - whereas nearly half the intake came from independent schools.

These stark university participation gaps are driven by significant gaps in attainment at GCSE level and before: pupils at fee-paying schools were three-and-a-half times more likely to attain five GCSE with grades A*-C including English and maths than the pupils from the poorest homes.

The position is not much better for the 25 most academically selective universities in England according the figures which are based on official statistics covering just under 2 million students enrolled at university over three years.

Only 2% (approximately 1,300 pupils each year) of the intake to these universities was made up of Free School Meal pupils, compared with 72.2% from other state school pupils and just over a quarter (25.8%) from independent schools. That means that independent school pupils were six times as likely to attend a highly selective university as those in state schools (the majority) not entitled to Free School Meals.

The figures also show that the proportions of FSM students varied significantly between highly selective universities. For example, King’s College London has 5.5% of FSM pupils among its students compared to Bristol’s 0.9% (see table in the Appendix to the attached report).

The new analysis suggests that the admission of more FSM pupils, the key target group for current Government education policies to improve social mobility, is much worse at leading research universities. During the three year period, 5.5% of the intake at all English universities was made up of Free School Meals pupils -- compared with 81.5% of other state school pupils, and 13% of independent school pupils.

In 2004, it was redcorded that around 14.5% of pupils were eligiable for free school meals.


 http://www.suttontrust.com/news/news/private-school-pupils-55-times/