Graduates to help poorer local pupils get into Oxbridge

A charity has launched a nationwide campaign at a Kilburn school to encourage children from poorer families to get into Oxbridge.

More than 200 pupils gathered at St Augustine’s for TeachFirst’s annual drive to get pupils from lower socio-economic groups into top universities.

Pupils from across the country will be paired up with mentors from the charity’s intense teacher-training programme for two years, to help them achieve their university ambitions.

Schools taking part include Quintin Kynaston in St John’s Wood and Greig City Academy in Hornsey.

Graihagh Crawshaw, programme manager said: “The latest data from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills shows right across the country there are significant disparities between the numbers of school leavers from state schools who receive free school meals going to university, compared with their peers who do not receive the free meals.”

Only children who are eligible for free school meals or whose parents have no history of higher education qualify for the scheme.

Last year 56 per cent of students won places at Cambridge, Oxford, London School of Economics and Warwick.