The majority of students admitted to Oxbridge last year were from state schools.

The news came today as Oxford University released its admissions data for 2016 showing that more than half (58 per cent) of students who took up places in 2016 came from the state sector.

The institution said that this was the highest figure on record.

At Cambridge, 62.5 per cent of acceptances were for state-school pupils, up from 62 per cent the year before.

But the figures are still disproportionately low compared to the 93.2 per cent of England’s pupils educated in the state sector.

Including international students, Oxford received 19,144 applications for around 3,200 places, while Cambridge had 16,750 applications and took 3,457 students.

‘Hugely encouraging’

Dr Samina Khan, director of undergraduate admissions and outreach at Oxford University, said: “These latest statistics are hugely encouraging and show the progress we are making towards our goal of attracting the best applicants from all backgrounds.

“For the second year in a row, around six out of 10 of our offers have been made to students from state schools.

“We are aware, though, that there is still work to be done in some areas, such as our intake of students from BME (black and minority ethnic) backgrounds.”

Earlier this year, 10 state-school teachers were honoured by Oxford University for their work in helping inspire students to apply to study there. The teachers were all nominated by their former pupils, now students at the university.

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