Oxbridge cash cut for ‘failing poor’

LONDON: The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge will see a drop in government funding next year for failing to attract students from working class backgrounds. Under university funding grants announced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, institutions in the Russell group of universities will also see a cut next year in their “widening participation” grant — a pot of money allocated for attracting more students from the most deprived wards in the country.

Cambridge’s grant will fall by 39 per cent from £6,08,355 to £3,71,445, while Oxford’s will fall by 37 per cent from £6,71,846 to £4,25,733. The cuts are small relative to the budgets of each university — Cambridge’s total allocation from the funding council is £168 million next year, while Oxford’s is £167 million.

They suggest that the elite universities’ attempts to widen access have stalled. Last year 56 per cent of students starting at Cambridge were from state schools, down from 58 per cent the year before. Currently 53 per cent of Oxford undergraduates from British schools attended state schools.