State pupils 'robbed' of university places

Independent school students are taking thousands of top university places that should belong to their state school counterparts, new research reveals.

Despite having A-level results that are on average two grades lower, students from feepaying schools are annually winning 3,000 places at the expense of their state school rivals, according to analysis by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The findings, which are based on A-level results, will fuel controversy-over access to elite universities as they attempt to increase tuition fees to £3,000 a year.

They suggest that 3,000 students - or one in 10 entrants - who should be at top universities are being underestimated or discouraged from applying.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, which commissioned the survey, told The Times: "Up to now the media has highlighted cases of bright students from independent schools who have failed to gain places at our top universities.

"In fact the dice are loaded in favour of independent school candidates. The research shows that the real casualties are students from state schools with high grades at A-level who have a clear threeto four-point handicap at top universities.

"The main reasons are that many qualified state school students don't apply to our leading universities and that offers are made not on actual grades but predicted grades, which in many cases are not accurate."