Oxford academics fear standards are being lowered to accept ‘disadvantaged’ students who would otherwise not be offered a place in a bid to meet diversity targets.
The prestigious university wants to reserve one in 10 places for students from ‘deprived’ postcodes or areas with a high proportion of working-class people who do not go through the standard admissions process.
They will typically have been educated at a public school, with in rare cases only privately educated students being nominated.
The program is known as Opportunity Oxford and admits students ‘on the same rigorous basis as all other students’.
It is believed there will be 220 places under the scheme this year, rising to 280 by 2028, for a total of 3,300 student places in Oxford.
But academics involved in the admissions process say it is “simply wrong” that students who take part in the program are assessed in the same way as those who do not.
One don told it The times: ‘I know of students admitted under this scheme who were unable to write essays in grammatical English, something previously unknown in my experience among Oxford students.’
Another said they feared that some among those offered places at Opportunity Oxford could ‘crowd out’ those with stronger academic ability.
Oxford academics fear standards are being lowered to accept ‘disadvantaged’ students who would otherwise not be offered a place in a bid to meet diversity targets
It is believed there will be 220 places under the Opportunity Oxford program this year, rising to 280 by 2028, out of a total of 3,300 student places in Oxford
Chris McGovern, chairman of right-wing pressure group Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘Well-meaning but misguided policymakers are putting diversity, equality and inclusion above academic skills because intelligence is not evenly and fairly distributed.’
However, a spokeswoman for the University of Oxford explained that anyone who receives a bid will be subject to the same competitive process.
They said: ‘All Opportunity Oxford students must meet the same conditional offers for their course as other offer holders.’
The spokeswoman added that the scheme plays an important role in ensuring equal opportunities for all students, regardless of their background.
Academics involved in admissions say it is ‘simply false’ that students in the program are assessed in the same way as those who are not – but the University of Oxford disputes this