In 2017, the University of Oxford admitted more students from one private school in London than it did black students.
Around 49 students from Westminster School, which charges upwards of £6,000 per term ($7992), accepted offers at Oxford last year. That figure is slightly higher than the total number of black students (48) to also accept their offer at the prestigious university, according to Cherwell, a student newspaper at Oxford.
The school also published data (pdf) on its admissions this week. Although 3% of the British population is black, according to the most recent census, only 1.9% of the roughly 3,200 UK students admitted to Oxford in 2017 were black.
Earlier this week, David Lammy, a British MP, took to Twitter to describe the university as “a bastion of white, middle class, southern privilege.” Oxford has agreed that more needs to be done to include black students, and on Wednesday (May 23) announced plans to expand its outreach program.
Overall, 18% of Oxford students identified as a person of color in 2017, up from 14% in 2013. The figure still falls below the UK university average of 25%.