Students from a selective state sixth form college set up in partnership with a leading private school have won a record number of Oxbridge offers, The Times reports.
Teenagers at Harris Westminster Sixth Form have received 57 offers to Oxford and Cambridge this year, more than the 51 offers received by students at Eton.
Harris Westminster was set up a decade ago in partnership with Westminster School as a free school with the aim of helping young people from diverse backgrounds win places at top universities.
The college’s curriculum is based on that of its independent sector partner and students study some A-level subjects there.
Students at Westminster School itself received 96 offers this year, the highest number since 2014.
James Handscombe, executive principal of Harris Westminster, which has only 300 pupils in each year group, said students had received offers from Oxford and Cambridge to study classics, English, history of art, law, chemistry, architecture and Chinese studies, among others.
He told The Times: “I think over time the universities have got better at doing this. They’ve seen what you need to look for in order to select students with potential who haven’t had private education throughout their lives.”
Of those receiving offers, he said: “I’m full of admiration for them and their determination and resilience.”
Last summer, a fifth of A-levels taken at the school were graded A* and half were A-grade or above. A quarter of pupils achieved at least A*AA.
The news comes as Oxford and Cambridge are under pressure to admit more state school applicants, who made up 72.9 per cent of Cambridge’s domestic student intake in 2022. At Oxford, the figure lies at 68.1 per cent.
The gradual shift towards favouring state schools has troubled some schools in the independent sector who suspect good applicants may be discriminated against because their parents paid for their education.
Minimum entry requirements for the Harris Westminster Sixth Form are six grades 7-9 at GCSE including at least 7s in the subjects chosen for study.
But “the majority of students accepted into the school have attainment far above this minimum”, its website states.