Young people from poorer backgrounds are still struggling to get into top universities. The wealthiest 20% of youngsters are seven times more likely than the most disadvantaged 40% to get places at England's most selective universities.Access from those 40% least disadvantaged youngsters has been "almost flat since the mid-1990s".
Talented youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds are still failing to realise their potential. Poorer youngsters are more likely to underperform in exams than their better-off counterparts, which means they might miss out on the grades needed for the most competitive courses. They are also at greater risk of making bad decisions over GCSE choices, which could limit their chances. And even if they have the exam grades in the right subjects, poorer youngsters are less likely to apply to the top universities.
Mike Nicholson, in charge of undergraduate admissions at Oxford, says that it is inequality of opportunity at school age that "is one of the major barriers to progression".
The Sutton Trust last month claimed that social mobility was lagging behind in England - and children's achievement was more linked to their family background than in many other countries as indicated by the narrowness of the educational background of the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat cabinet - with two thirds having gone to Oxford or Cambridge.
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