The proportion of state school students entering the University of Oxford increased slightly last year, but it still lags behind what it was at the start of the decade as both Oxbridge institutions continue to report patchy progress on widening participation.

The university’s reveals 66.5 per cent of its 2025 UK-based intake attended non-fee-paying schools, up on 66.2 per cent last year but down from 68.2 per cent in 2021.

Privately educated pupils, who make up approximately 6.4 per cent of the total school population, have increased at the institution compared with 2021, although the proportion of undergraduates formerly eligible for free school meals (FSMs) has risen over the same period. 

Those with the FSM entitlement attending Oxford grew from 5.3 per cent in 2021 to 6.6 per cent in 2025. But the latest figure was down on the 8.1 per cent reported last year. 

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Across the period 2021-25, the proportion of women decreased from 55.2 per cent to 50.6 per cent.

In comparable admissions data University of Cambridge last month, the proportion of students entering from so-called maintained schools – a term encompassing comprehensive and grammar schools, and sixth-form, further education (FE) and tertiary colleges – rose from 71 per cent in 2024 to 72.5 per cent, taking it back to levels last seen in 2023 after two consecutive years of declines.

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Tracked across the same period as the Oxford admissions data, this sees Cambridge improve upon its share of state-educated entrants, up from 71.6 per cent in 2021.

At both elite institutions, however, the proportion of those accepted from postcodes belonging to the Index of Multiple Deprivation – in other words, those from some of the most socio-economically disadvantaged areas – is smaller in 2025 than it was in 2021.

At Oxford, it fell from 21.1 per cent to 20.9 per cent, while at Cambridge, it fell from 21 per cent in 2021 to 20.5 per cent for the most recent cycle.

Overall, Oxford received 23,329 applications for the 2025-26 academic year, 268 more than the previous year, although 490 fewer than its five-year high of 23,819 submissions for 2022-23.

This most recent year saw it accept 3,302 students. Cambridge, meanwhile, received 22,513 applications for 2025-26, up from 22,153 for 2024-25, and accepted 4,893.

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Courses with the highest number of applicants per place at Oxford include computer science, law, medicine, and experimental psychology, while Cambridge’s include economics, engineering, and natural sciences.

Between 2021 and 2025, the proportion of black and minority ethnic Oxford undergraduates grew from 24.6 per cent to 30 per cent, with another sizeable increase over the same period for those declaring a disability: reaching 19.5 per cent, up from 11.6 per cent.

The university, which is working to realise the aims of its Access and Participation Plan 2025-26 to 2028-29, has made growing the number of undergraduates from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds part of a raft of ambitions.

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Goals also include increasing the proportion of both black and disabled students finishing with “good degrees”.

In an introduction to the latest admissions report, Oxford vice-chancellor Irene Tracey said the university was dedicated to “creating an environment in which academic excellence and potential can thrive”.

“Over the past five years, the university has expanded its work with schools, teachers, and students across the UK to support attainment and aspiration,” Tracey writes.

“Our new Access and Participation Plan, approved by the Office for Students and introduced this academic year, sets out how we will attract the most academically talented students from all backgrounds,” she adds.

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georgia.luckhurst@timeshighereducation.com