A London state school has received 41 Oxbridge offers, beating many top private schools

A state school in East London has had 41 students receive Oxbridge offers, with almost all of them from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Brampton Manor Academy in Newham opened its sixth form in 2012, receiving one Oxbridge offer in 2014, 25 in 2018 and now a record 41 in 2019.

They are believed to have received more Oxbridge offers than a number of top private schools. Wellington College had 20 Oxbridge entrants last year, Charterhouse had 24, and Dulwich College with 26.

The sixth form was established in order to boost progression of students from disadvantaged backgrounds to top universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, as well as other Russell Group institutions.

Of the 41 students who have received an offer this year, 66 per cent of them would be the first in their family to attend university while half of them received free school meals. Most of the students are from a BAME background.

The academy's executive principal told The Guardian: "We were delighted when last year we sent 20 students to Oxbridge, having seen the number increase gradually from just one offer in 2014. For this to have more than doubled again is phenomenal but does not surprise us – our vision has always been to never put limits on what our students can achieve, and I think these offers reflect just that."

That a state school such as Brampton Academy is able to have such a high amount of Oxbridge offers shows a student's background does not have to limit their future. This is despite the fact that students from less privileged backgrounds are ten times less likely to go to a top uni than their more privileged counterparts.

Another London sixth form, Harris Westminster, has achieved 37 Oxbridge offers, with more than a third of their intake qualifying for the pupil premium for disadvantaged students, which means their parents earn less than £16,000 a year.

The Tab's 10x Campaign on fairness in uni admissions is named after how much more likely privileged students are to progress to a top uni. If you want to contribute to The Tab's 10x Campaign with a personal story or news tip, please email [email protected].

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