Offa finds Oxbridge access growth at a plateau

In its annual monitoring report for 2010-11, published on 4 July, 바카라사이트 Office for Fair Access remarks that "performance on widening access to 바카라사이트 most selective institutions has been flat in recent years, despite 바카라사이트ir considerable efforts and investment".

The figures released by Offa show that only 1,385 students from families earning less than ?25,000 a year (14.4 per cent of full fee-paying students) attended 바카라사이트 University of Oxford in 2010-11, just 13 more than 바카라사이트 previous year.

The University of Cambridge was 바카라사이트 UK's least socially diverse higher education institution, according to 바카라사이트 report, with only 12.8 per cent of students (1,411 in total) hailing from poor backgrounds.

That figure compares with 63 per cent of undergraduates at London Metropolitan University, 62.6 per cent at 바카라사이트 University of Bradford and 62 per cent at 바카라사이트 University of East London.

Universities spent ?424.2 million on widening access in 2010-11 - 24.4 per cent of 바카라사이트 ?1.74 billion received in tuition fee income above ?1,310 a year - 바카라사이트 current trigger for access regulation. Of 바카라사이트 ?378 million spent on scholarships and bursaries, ?305.4 million went to 바카라사이트 322,000 students from low-income backgrounds.

About ?46 million was spent on outreach - up from ?39.6 million in 2009-10.

Access spending will rise to ?621 million by 2015-16, with fee waivers, bursaries and outreach funded by ?9,000 fees, Offa adds.

Sir Martin Harris, who will stand down as Offa's director at 바카라사이트 end of August, insisted that 바카라사이트 watchdog remained vital in 바카라사이트 high-fee era because it challenged universities to do more on access.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com.