A fifth of Oxbridge students come from just five counties

Teenagers from only five counties in the South make up almost one fifth of all pupils across the country admitted to Oxbridge, statistics show.

Government figures reveal just how much the two elite universities are dominated by pupils from the south of England, despite efforts to attract a more diverse range of students.

A total of 2,720 – or 18 per cent – of total admissions in three years from England and Wales were to pupils from the five local education authority areas.

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Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, a charity providing educational opportunities for children from under-privileged backgrounds, said: ‘These figures show that your chances of getting to a great university aren’t just a matter of family background, but also of where you go to school.

‘London has benefited from a lot of programmes and attention over the years, and we need that attention to spread across the country, particularly to the North and to coastal towns, if young people are to improve their chances of getting a good degree and progressing to a good career.’

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