Top universities are biased against children from poorer backgrounds, Alan Ryan, warden at New College, Oxford, has told the Times Higher Education Supplement. He agreed with comments made by John Denham, the universities secretary, that Oxford and Cambridge universities are guilty of “social bias”. Also state schools made it more difficult for their pupils to win places at Oxbridge, Mr Ryan said, because they prefer pupils to score two As and two Bs at A-level because it scores more league table points than three As. This means pupils miss out on the standard Oxbridge offer.
