The number of pupils at private schools in Britain has risen even though the proportion winning places at top universities has fallen, a survey reveals.
Schoolchildren getting into Oxford and Cambridge from the independent sector was at 4.3 per cent last year, down from 5.3 per cent the year before and 6.5 per cent in 2016. Exeter, Durham, Bristol, University College London and Nottingham also took fewer privately-educated undergraduates than the previous year, according to the Independent Schools Council (ISC) census.
Professor Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, said last month that private schools must accept that they would get fewer students into Oxbridge because of the competition from the state sector. He told The Times that leading universities needed to make it very clear to independent schools that their “premium” was likely to be reduced.
