Oxbridge universities fail to enrol ethnic minority students

The Guardian
March 12

Just five students of black Caribbean origin started at Oxford this year; at Cambridge there are eight

Students at Oxford University. Photograph: Graham Turner

Oxford and Cambridge universities are still failing to increase significantly the number of places given to ethnic minority students, despite being given nearly £1m a year each by the government to widen access.

The latest admissions statistics show that just five out of more than 3,000 students who started at Oxford this year are black Caribbean in origin, while the equivalent figure at Cambridge is eight.

The UK's most ancient universities are under political pressure to open up access to a wider range of students and both have increased the proportion of students from state schools this year, but black Caribbeans remain a very small proportion of undergraduates at both universities.

At Oxford, applications from Indian and Chinese UK students actually fell, with a corresponding decline in the numbers gaining entry.

At Oxford, the entry for October 2008 included five black Caribbean students (the same as the previous year) among a total intake of 3,170 including overseas students. A further 10 were described as white and black Caribbean. The 65 Indian students were the largest minority among the 2,683 home students, but that was 20 fewer than in 2007.

There were 37 Chinese students, again down on the previous year, 17 Pakistani and 24 black African. There were 74 white and Asian students accepted and three Bangladeshis (up from one the year before).

With more than four students applying for every place, competition is intense and the success rate among ethnic minority UK students is nearly 29%, compared with an overall average of 23.7%, but it remains below the hit rate of independent school candidates which is 29.4%.

Cambridge is due to publish its latest admissions figures later this month and they will show a similar ethnic mix among home students. There were eight black Caribbean, 20 black African, 116 Indian, 95 Chinese, 16 Pakistani and six Bangladeshi students. There is a very similar 27% success rate among ethnic minority applicants to Cambridge.

Both universities say they cannot select ethnic minority students if they do not apply and insist they are making strenuous efforts to attract more applications.

A spokeswoman for Oxford said: "The university is committed to attracting, selecting and supporting students from any race or background."

Most outreach activities are open to students from all backgrounds but the universities also conduct schemes specifically for ethnic minorities. For example, St Anne's College works with the National Black Boys Can Association.

The number of home students from Indian families who applied for 2008 fell from 389 to 338, and the pattern was repeated for Chinese students with a decline from 206 to 186. Inevitably, fewer from these communities are now Oxford undergraduates.

Cambridge said the Group to Encourage Ethnic Minority Applications programme, which was set up in 1989 as a joint venture by students and the colleges, had succeeded in pushing up the numbers of ethnic minority students from 5.5% to 15.5% over two decades.

Oxford admissions statistics will also be scrutinised by schools and parents for clues as to which subjects will give students the best chance of success when they apply.

Classics emerges as the comparatively easy option with a success rate of 47% (55% for men), followed by geology and materials science, which are smaller courses.

Most competitive is the economics and management degree, followed by engineering, economics and management, and a law degree which includes a year of study at a European university.