New statistics on admissions and household income of Oxford students

Oxford University today publishes its latest set of admissions statistics, which apply to entry 2010.

It is also making available figures on students from low household incomes studying at Oxford.

In terms of school type, figures for 2010 entry show that 55.4% of UK school students admitted were from the state sector, a rise of 1.5 percentage points on 2009.

Early figures for 2011 offers show that the percentage of offers to UK state school students has risen to 58.5%, the highest since the University started keeping official figures of this breakdown (1983).

Figures on lower household incomes show that 13.5% of UK first-degree undergraduates at Oxford in 2009/10 (across all years) came from households earning under £25,000 a year, with nearly one in ten from households earning less than £16,290 – the key eligibility criterion for free school meals.

The full set of admissions statistics can be found at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/facts_and_figures/undergraduate_admissions_statistics/.

These do not include statistics about household income, which follow below.

Mike Nicholson, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Oxford, said: ‘We are pleased that figures for 2010 and preliminary offer figures for 2011 show the proportion of state students gradually rising. We believe this shows the great amount of effort and energy we have put into our outreach work is paying off. However, the focus on school sector is limiting.

‘First, disparities in prior attainment across different school types present a huge challenge for Oxford: independent school students make up 33% of all students getting AAA at A-level.

‘Second, we’re just as interested in other measures of whether under-represented groups are coming to Oxford. Household income is one important measure, and it does not correlate in an obvious way with school type.

‘Our figures show that nearly one in ten of our students come from households in the lowest income bracket. Those students went to a range of school types, confirming that state/independent does not equal poor/rich.’

‘The figure stands in marked contrast to figures based on free school meal recipients that are regularly cited by politicians. There are very many more students from low-income backgrounds than there are students who were on free school meals – not everyone on the lowest incomes is eligible, and not everyone takes them up.’

Oxford gets more competitive every year: preliminary figures for entry 2011 showed a record number of applications at more than 17,300. Applications from state school candidates have increased by 73% over the past ten years (compared to 31% from independent schools)

Oxford is committed to selecting students with the most academic ability and potential, and works to attract applications from talented students from any background. In the last year the University, colleges and departments have reached more than 76% of all UK schools with post-16 educational provision.

For further information please contact Julia Paolitto in the University of Oxford Press Office on 01865 280531 or julia.paolitto@admin.ox.ac.uk

See www.ox.ac.uk/ug-stats for information on 2010 admissions, with breakdowns by nationality, domicile, course, college, school type, qualifications, gender and more.

*Figures on UK student household income for 2009-10, all year groups:

Out of the 9,505 UK students doing a first degree:

2,584 (27.2%) had household incomes below £50,000 (of which 719 had been in the independent sector)

1,283 students (13.5%) had household incomes below £25,000 (of which 412 had been in the independent sector)

935 students had household incomes below £16,190, the key eligibility criterion for free school meals (of which 295 had been in the independent sector)

* Selection is based purely on academic ability and potential, laid down in published selection criteria for each subject.

* Oxford has one of the most rigorous selection procedures in the country and possibly in the world. Academic ability and potential is assessed through a range of measures: at least two interviews; aptitude tests (in many subjects); written work (in some subjects); predicted grades; attained grades; and references.

* Nearly 36,000 people achieve AAA at A-level. More than 17,000 people a year apply for undergraduate places Oxford. Oxford has 3,200 undergraduate places a year.

* School attainment is the biggest barrier to getting more state school students to Oxford. Although independent schools educate just 7% of the total UK school population, they account for 15% of all A-level entries, 30% of all A grades, and 33% of all those getting AAA.

* The admissions figures showed high success rates for students applying to Oxford who attended its UNIQ summer school for state school students. More than 40% of UNIQ summer school students applying to Oxford received offers – a success rate nearly double that of all applicants to the University.

* Last year, the total spend across the University and colleges on outreach activities was around £2.5m. Staff from across the collegiate University conducted over 1,500 outreach activities with groups from primary age upwards.