An outstanding state school in east London has overtaken Eton College and other top private schools in the competition for Oxbridge offers.
Brampton Manor, an academy in Newham, said that 55 of its pupils had received conditional offers to study either Oxford and Cambridge.
Eton College, alma mater of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, secured 48 and was forced to defend its performance.
Brampton Manor wrote in a statement on Twitter: “Despite the Covid pandemic, a record number of students have shown resilience and determination to secure offers from two of the most prestigious universities in the world.”
The Newham school set up its sixth form in 2012 in the hope of getting more disadvantaged pupils into leading universities.
In 2014, one Brampton student received an Oxbridge offer. 25 had received an offer by 2018 and 41 by 2019.
From 2015 to this year, state school intake has increased from 62.3 per cent to 70 per cent at Cambridge and from 55.6 per cent to 68.7 per cent at Oxford.
Newham is one of the most deprived London boroughs. According to the charity Trust For London, some 52 per cent of its children deemed to be living in poverty.
Eton defend its performance of 48 offers, down from 99 five years ago.
Deputy head Tom Hawkins wrote to parents: “Each year we see very strong Etonian applicants disappointed, and unfortunately there have been more boys in this position this year.”
The latest Ofsted report described Brampton Manor as having “relentless ambition and high expectations”.
It said that that the sixth-form, which has 580 pupils, is a centre of excellence.
Stormzy, the grime music star who set up Cambridge scholarships, said that he wanted to send his children to the school.
