Robert Halfon, the new higher education minister, said making sure disadvantaged pupils got places should be among the ‘main goals’
Advancing “social justice” by making sure that disadvantaged teenagers win places should be one of the main goals of universities, the new higher education minister has said.
Robert Halfon said that supporting disadvantaged pupils should be one of the “three purposes” of universities and dismissed concerns about a decline in private school pupils getting into Oxbridge.
In his first speech as higher education minister, he told university leaders that he was “profoundly disappointed” by the row over private school admissions.
An investigation by The Telegraph last month revealed that the Oxbridge success rates for pupils from 50 leading independent schools have declined by a third in the last five years.