New Oxbridge colleges for disadvantaged students

A new generation of Oxford and Cambridge colleges should be opened to create more places for disadvantaged youngsters, says a report into widening access to university.

The Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) has published ideas from MPs, think tanks and academics to make university more inclusive.

The report wants more Oxbridge places, as other universities have expanded.

Oxford and Cambridge both said they had "no plans" to create new colleges.

The report, Reaching the Parts of Society Universities Have Missed, makes recommendations for tackling unequal access to higher education.

'Entirely new colleges'

"People from rich households are more likely to reach the most prestigious institutions, white working-class boys rarely make it to higher education and there is a big black attainment gap," said Hepi director Nick Hillman.

Entry to Oxford and Cambridge is described as "hyper-selective" and the report suggests a practical response would be to create more places, in the way that many other universities have expanded.

"If existing colleges are reluctant to increase their undergraduate entry, then it is time to consider founding a number of entirely new Oxbridge colleges to boost the number of students from under-represented groups at our oldest, richest and most prestigious universities," said Mr Hillman.

Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) show many leading universities have expanded rapidly in recent years in their undergraduate intake, some by more than 50%.

But Cambridge has seen only a much more modest rise in first-year numbers - up by 4%.

According to the figures from the higher education data body, Oxford has reduced its first-year intake, down by 21% over the past five years.

Oxford challenges the figures used by Hesa, saying the university's own figures suggest full-time undergraduate numbers have remained broadly similar, with a 2% increase

But this is far behind a pattern of expansion at many other institutions - the University of Bristol's intake has grown by 22%, University College London by 36%, Queen Mary University of London by 46% and University of Surrey by 57%.

A spokeswoman from the University of Oxford said there were "no plans to expand overall undergraduate numbers or create new colleges".

Oxford's colleges already face "major challenges" over accommodation and the university runs many "initiatives which are expanding the number of students from under-represented backgrounds", said the spokeswoman.

The University of Cambridge also said it did not have any plans to significantly increase undergraduate numbers.

Prof Graham Virgo, pro-vice-chancellor for education, said: "Our biggest problem at Cambridge is convincing people they should apply and making it clear to them that they are welcome here.