Universities admitting too many private school pupils
Universities admitting too many private school pupils, says Alan Milburn
Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet member, said large numbers of universities, including several ex-polytechnics admitted too many pupils from private schools while failing to reach out to the most deprived teenagers.
He warned that a major rethink was needed to widen access to higher education.
Recent figures showing that teenagers from deprived backgrounds have less chance of gaining places at leading universities than they did 15 years ago.
The proportion of students from the poorest homes gaining places at the top 30% of universities dropped from 3.3% in 1995 to to 3.2% in 2009.