Oxford Reaches Out to State Schools

57% of students admitted to Oxbridge are from state schools.
Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

An Oxford college has announced a new initiative that will encourage closer ties with the state-funded high schools that educate most British students, the university said last week.

The announcement from Pembroke College came after Les Ebdon, who began work this month as the director of the government’s Office for Fair Access, warned Oxford and Cambridge that they risked losing their world-class status if they failed to admit more students from state-funded schools, The Guardian reported.

“If the top universities are to retain their positions, they need to access the full range of our society,” he told The Guardian. “Otherwise, they are losing a major source of potential.”

Peter Claus, a history professor at Pembroke College, was appointed to the newly created post of access fellow.

He will oversee a yearlong program to provide tutorials, seminars and interview guidance to high school students in London and northwest England. The program will end in a weeklong residence at Pembroke College.

Oxford drew 57.7 percent of its intake from state schools in 2011. This is an increase from 46.5 percent in 2005 but is still below target levels. — MARY HUI


Hong Kong admissions fee sets off public backlash

A new program starting in October, which will allow parents to pay a hefty fee to improve their children’s chances of entering some state-funded English-language schools, has come under fire from lawmakers and the Hong Kong public.

The English Schools Foundation said last week that parents could pay a 500,000 Hong Kong dollar, or $64,000, nonrefundable debenture to give their children priority in admissions. The public foundation runs schools that are priced midway between free local schools and private schools. — JOYCE LAU

-  Nytimes