St Andrews University among highest number of privately-educated students

Two in five students at the university in 2017 came from private schools which makes St Andrews one of the 10 most privately-educated institutions in the country. School of origin was recorded for 1,055 students aged under 21, who were starting a first degree at St Andrews in the academic year 2017-18. Of those, 415 came from independent, fee-paying schools – or 39 per cent .

And while 94 per cent of secondary school students in Scotland are state-educated, these students made up just 61 per cent of St Andrews freshers.

A university spokesperson said: “Put very simply, we made more offers to state school applicants but those who accepted fell by one per cent while acceptances by independent school applicants rose by seven per cent.

“By themselves, these figures give a very misleading view of our considerable progress in widening access to higher education. We don’t recruit on the basis of schooling but look for academic potential.

“Using that approach, this year 49 per cent of our Scottish students had access markers – a background in care, a low progression school, or living in an area of multiple deprivation.”