NEARLY three in ten (29.3 per cent) British students admitted in Cambridge University last year were from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds-up from 27.8 per cent in 2019, its annual admissions statistics show.
It also accepted a record proportion of state school pupils in 2020 — 70.6 per cent (up from 68.7 per cent) — after increasing its intake as a result of the A-level exams fiasco, reported The Times.
There was a 13.3 per cent increase in the number of students admitted to the institution last autumn — from 3,528 in 2019 to 3,997 last year — because of the U-turn on A-levels last summer, when an algorithm used to moderate grades was abandoned, the report added.
In the general UK population about 13.8 per cent of people are from a minority ethnic background.
According to the report, the proportion of British students coming from economically disadvantaged areas rose to 21.6 per cent in 2020 from 19.7 per cent in the previous academic year.
The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic origins has been rising steadily since 2006. In primary schools, 32.1 per cent of pupils of compulsory school age are of minority ethnic origins, The Times report added.
In secondary schools, 29.1 per cent of pupils are of minority ethnic origins, an increase from 27.9 per cent in 2016, it said.
Viram Jasani 
