Poor, academically deserving students continue to be excluded from universities because of their financial position.

Elite universities must recruit more talented students from poor homes. Prof Les Ebdon highlighted Offa data showing the proportion of poor students at top universities had fallen. Offa research indicates the richest 20% of young people are seven times more likely to enter the most selective institutions than the poorest 40%.

Offa calculated how much of the extra income that universities receive from tuition fees was spent on recruiting and encouraging poor students to take up places.

According to the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission the number of state school pupils starting a degree at a top university increased by 1,464 between 2002/03 and 2011/12.