Teenagers from the most affluent areas saw the biggest drop in places at a Russell Group universities last year, figures published on Thursday have shown.
University applicants faced the most competitive scramble for places at top universities in decades because of a squeeze on places as institutions attempted to recover from the previous year, when they were oversubscribed because of inflated teacher-assessed grades.
Figures released by Ucas, the university admissions service, showed that overall, the number of UK 18-year-olds who won a place at so-called "higher tariff" universities made up of the Russell Group, fell by almost 12,000 to 91,190.
Teenagers from all five groups of postcode areas used by universities to help assess whether candidates are disadvantaged saw a drop in places awarded.
