To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the findings of the Sutton Trust's report of 7 December 2018, Access to Advantage, what steps his Department is taking to increase the proportion of state school pupils applying to study at Oxbridge universities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the findings of the Sutton Trust's report of 7 December 2018, Access to Advantage, what steps his Department is taking to tackle regional inequalities in gaining a place at an Oxbridge university.

Widening participation to Higher Education (HE) is a priority for this government. Everyone with the capability to succeed in HE should have the opportunity to benefit from a university education, regardless of background or where they grew up.

This year, record rates of English 18 year olds, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, have entered full-time university. However, more could and should be done. That is why, in our first guidance to the Office for Students, we asked them to encourage providers, particularly the most selective, to make further progress in ensuring that disadvantaged and underrepresented students can access, participate and succeed in HE.

A new transparency condition will require HE providers to publish application, offer, acceptance, non-continuation and attainment rates by socio-economic background, gender and ethnicity. This will provide greater transparency and help drive fairness on admissions and outcomes.

Prior attainment is a critical driver of access to HE and the government has asked HE providers to take on a more direct role in helping to raise attainment in schools as part of their outreach activity. All universities are expected to help raise attainment and support school improvement, including through school sponsorship and by establishing new state schools.

The National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) targets those areas of the country where progression into HE is both low overall and lower than expected (given typical GCSE attainment rates), in order to increase the number of young people from under-represented groups who go into higher education.

The department’s Opportunity Areas initiative is part of the government’s national plan for dealing with social mobility through education. The government expects universities to actively engage in these areas, to tackle local barriers.

In addition, the department launched Opportunity North East – a £24 million investment to drive rapid and sustainable improvements in education, to tackle the key issues holding young people back. We will challenge the most selective institutions to do more to increase the number of young people from the region.