Social Immobility

The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission ranked every English council for disadvantaged children's prospects. The commission said some of the richest areas failed poor children the most.

Not one pupil eligible for free school meals in Cambridgeshire got into an Oxbridge university in 2014, and no Oxfordshire pupil managed it in 2013. Children from poor families in Oxford and Cambridge have less chance of good exam grades than those in London's most deprived areas, says a report. 

Despite being home to two of the world's best universities, Oxford and Cambridge "do quite badly" by children from disadvantaged homes, says the commission.

It found that of children eligible for free school meals in the two cities:

Fewer than four in 10 achieve a good level of development by age five

Only a quarter get five good GCSEs, including English and maths

More than one in five are not in education, employment or training a year after GCSEs

Relatively few go to university (15% in Cambridge and 14% in Oxford)

In Oxford only 4% go to a selective university and in Cambridge only 2%

By contrast, in London's Tower Hamlets, which has the highest rate of child poverty in England:

More than half of children on free school meals achieve a good level of development by five

More than half get five good GCSEs including English and maths

Only 11% are not in education, employment or training a year after GCSEs

A total of 39% go to university

Around 10% go to a selective university