Oxford University delays publishing ethnicity admission data due to ‘world events’

The uni has already received backlash for not admitting enough black students


Oxford University has delayed publishing admissions data on the diversity of its students due to current “world events”. The data is released each year and reveals how diverse the student intake is in terms of ethnicity, age, gender, disability and economic background.

Staff were notified about the change of plan in an internal email that was sent out yesterday afternoon. According to Huffington Post, the email says: “After careful consideration of the current world events and also learning that Cambridge will not be publishing it’s admissions data until late June, the decision to postpone the release of the annual admissions statistical report has been taken.

“The delay also allows us more time to work on announcing our commitment to outreach through our digital outreach programmes, which are being delivered despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and particularly the closure of schools since March 2020.”

This comes after multiple Black Lives Matter protests were held across the UK following the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers last week. In response to the movement, Oxford University tweeted: “We’re committed to supporting our community in opposing racism in all its forms, including upholding anti-racist values”.

The tweet was met with criticism and accusations of racism with many referencing their repeated lack of diversity in their admissions statistics and incidents such as their refusal of Stormzy’s scholarship.

One user commented: “After countless calls by students to condemn racism and support BLM, THIS is all you have to offer??? Try harder”.

Another Twitter user responded: “You tweeted this for your institution’s reputation not out of genuine solidarity and care for the plight of black people or any coloured people. If Oxford really cared, you’d be doing more in your own back yard where institutional racism is rife”.

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