Five top schools send more students to Oxbridge than 2,000 schools combined

POSH pupils from just five private schools take more places at Oxford and Cambridge universities than Britain’s bottom 2,000 state schools combined, research reveals today.

The report by the Sutton Trust also reveals that private school students are more than twice as likely to get into the top 30 universities than comprehensive pupils.

Elite schools charging as much as £30,000 a year, such as Eton College where Prime Minister David Cameron was educated, and St Paul’s where Chancellor George Osborne was taught, are in the five.

Eton, Westminster School, St Paul’s School and St Paul’s Girls School – all private – and Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge produced 946 Oxbridge entrants from 2007-09 – one in 20 of all the students.

Meanwhile, 2,000 other schools and colleges produced a total of 927 students.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: “We know these stark inequalities are driven primarily by the exam results, yet the data also reveals that university chances can vary dramatically for schools with similar average grades.”

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UK student protests turn violent

Student demonstrators in central London have attacked a car carrying the Prince of Wales and his wife.

A window was smashed and paint bombs were thrown at the car but both the Royals escaped unharmed.

A peaceful march against a government vote to lift university fees soon spiralled into acts of vandalism and violence throughout the city.

Fifty-five people were injured as protesters stormed the Treasury building, entered the National Gallery, lit fires in Parliament Square and threw rocks and snooker balls at police.

Europe correspondent Emma Alberici reports from London.

(Sound of protesters)

EMMA ALBERICI: Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were attacked on their way to the Royal Variety Performance.

Their route took them right through Regent Street where around 500 protesters, many of them wearing balaclavas, were vandalising shop windows, knocking over garbage bins and smashing telephone booths.

As Christmas shoppers braved freezing temperatures anarchists tried to burn down the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square.

Photographers on the scene captured the horror as the Royals looked out of their car windows in shock. Crowds of youths surrounded the car and attempted to open the door. It was pelted with paint bombs, a window smashed.

VOX POP 1: The Royal party came down Piccadilly Circus and started at Regent Street and then progressed up Regent Street although I thought it was mad at the time for them to do so because there were thousands of protesters at the top of Regent Street and they were going, heading straight into it.

EMMA ALBERICI: The Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall were not harmed and entered the theatre to greet some of the artists preparing to perform for them - among them Australia's Kylie Minogue.

The National Union of Students condemned the violence outside on the streets but they were just as angry about the noise coming from inside the parliament.

PARLIAMENTARIAN: The ayes to the right, 322. The nos to the left, 302.

(Cries of "ooo!")

EMMA ALBERICI: One of the most divisive debates in British political history ended with the passage of a bill that will see university fees rise from around $5,000 a year to $15,000.

The business secretary Vince Cable insists the government, faced with a record deficit, had no choice.

VINCE CABLE: We have opted for a set of policies that provides a strong base for university funding, which makes a major contribution to reducing the deficit and introduces a significantly more progressive system of graduate payments than we inherited.

EMMA ALBERICI: Vince Cable used to be one of the poster boys of Britain's political left. He's now a member of a Conservative led coalition government which is being accused of turning its back on its supporters.

Eight months ago the Liberal Democrats were campaigning not only against a rise in tuition fees, they wanted them abolished altogether. Instead today they have passed a law that will treble them.

VOX POP 2: Frankly I don't believe what they are doing today is right. I think it's bad policy, it's a bad way of doing things. Them rushing it in is wrong. I think they are going to do a lot of damage.

VOX POP 3: We are one of the only two countries in the world that is taking money out of higher education. Why on earth are we doing this? To develop for the future we need to put money into education, we should develop our workforce and put money into it.

VOX POP 4: I was here six months ago protesting to get the Lib Dems into office and now I'm here trying to get them out. It's just abysmal. They have gone completely back on their word.

EMMA ALBERICI: While most protesters were peaceful a number broke away from the main group creating a dilemma for the police who found themselves having to deal with rioters in at least three different locations around the city.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson says nothing could justify the reaction of protesters whose violence left 55 people injured including 12 policemen - one who broke his neck when he was pushed off his horse.

PAUL STEPHENSON: I think anybody who has been watching the pictures of the violence today will just want to condemn it. Any right minded individual including peaceful protesters who want to make a point will condemn what has happened today.

EMMA ALBERICI: With helicopters flying overhead, plumes of smoke rising from the fires lit outside the parliament and students vowing to rail against the rise in tuition fees Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg rushed out a message to his party members.

Two of whom resigned in reaction to the parliamentary vote. One-third of his MPs voted against the fee rise.

He said he wished that he could have pursued a different policy and then the message goes on: "We did not win the general election but went in to a coalition and had to tackle the greatest economic crisis in decades."

This is Emma Alberici in London for The World Today.


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Met Police launch inquiry into student protest

Thousands marched peacefully in London over plans to increase fees in England.

But outside Tory party headquarters in Millbank, a minority smashed windows, lit fires and threw missiles at police.

Met chief Sir Paul Stephenson said the violence, which led to 35 arrests and 14 people being injured, was unexpected and "an embarrassment to London".

The violence has been condemned by student leaders and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

The day began with a largely peaceful march after hundreds of coachloads of students and lecturers from England and Wales converged in the capital.

But once the march reached Conservative HQ, some demonstrators used tools to smash through windows.

Crowds then surged forward and stormed the building. Some fled to the roof from where they threw a fire extinguisher and liquids, it was reported.

The BBC's Mike Sergeant, who was at the scene, said one female police officer was injured by the missiles.

Six fellow police officers and seven others were also injured in the clashes, according to Scotland Yard. No-one is thought to be seriously hurt.

The latest police figures showed 35 arrests were made.

By 1700 GMT, the police had largely taken control of the building, but a stand-off between about two dozen demonstrators and the police continued late into the evening.

Protesters were contained on the road and were eventually released by police. Their photographs were taken as they left to help identify key troublemakers.

Essex University student Leila Khaled, 22, was among those held in the police cordon. She said demonstrators, who were not there to cause trouble, were left "freezing" and "desperate" as they waited to be let out.

Protest 'hijacked'

The Met Police is now facing accusations that too few officers were on duty during the protest.

Protester smashes window Windows were smashed in before protesters stormed the building

Met Commissioner Sir Paul said the force should have anticipated the level of violence "better".

"It's not acceptable. It's an embarrassment for London and for us," he said.

Mr Johnson said he was appalled that "a small minority had abused their right to protest".

"This is intolerable and all those involved will be pursued and they will face the full force of the law."

Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi, who was inside the building during the protest, said police had responded "in the circumstances that they felt best".

"People had a legitimate right to protest on issues that they felt very strongly [about], and it is a shame that a small minority of those protesters ruined it for the rest of them," she said.

Demonstrators were also cleared from outside the Liberal Democrat headquarters, where a car window was smashed.

National Union of Students (NUS) president Aaron Porter said the violence was "despicable" and not part of the plan.

"This action was by others who have come out and used this opportunity to hijack a peaceful protest," he said.

The NUS is threatening to try to unseat Liberal Democrat MPs who go back on pre-election pledges they made to oppose any rise in tuition fees.

Higher education funding is being cut by 40% - with teaching grants being all but wiped out except for science and maths.

The government expects the costs of teaching other courses to be funded by tuition fees from 2012.

The plan is for a lower cap at £6,000, with universities able to charge up to £9,000 - triple the current cap - in "exceptional circumstances". Ministers insist their plans offer a "fair deal for students".

Earlier on Wednesday, during prime minister's questions in the Commons, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had a fiery exchange with Labour's Harriet Harman over fees.

He was accused of hypocrisy, because the Liberal Democrats opposed tuition fees in the election run-up.

But he said Labour had made U-turns itself over fees, which it brought in in 1997, and said the party had no clear alternative policy.

Meanwhile, research by the Higher Education Policy Institute suggests all universities will charge tuition fees of £9,000 to avoid being labelled as a "low quality" institution.

It says: "Those institutions that are over-subscribed will charge £9,000 without hesitation.

"Those that have struggled to recruit students will initially be more cautious, but, within a few years, we believe that almost all universities will charge the maximum fee."

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