Nearly a third of Exeter students are privately educated

Recent research done by The Sutton Trust reveals that 28% of students at Exeter University are privately educated.

While investigating the education gap between poor and privileged students at English universities, the Trust found that, unsurprisingly, Oxford and Cambridge had the highest percentage of privately educated students, with 46.6% and 42.7% respectively.

This contrasts with London's South Bank University, which came last in the listing. Nearly a quarter of the students there received free school meals at school, compared with a tiny 1% at Exeter. This suggests that the widespread rumour about the 'poshness' of Exeter students may be well-founded.

The Sutton Trust compared statistics with those at US universities, and found that the proportion of students from poorer backgrounds there is often higher. For example, in the academic year 2008/9, 15% of the students at Harvard University were on Federal Pell Grants, the bursary given to undergraduates from low-income families.

For a full list of the Sutton Trust's statistics clink here:

https://docs.google.com/a/exetertab.co.uk/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AonYZs4Mz...