Private school pupils square measure modification their grip on the country's high 10 universities as state faculties move far from ancient subjects, say researchers.
Record numbers square measure winning places at universities like Cambridge, city and Warwick once achieving high A-level grades in science, engineering, languages and social science.
Key university degree courses square measure more and more the preserve of freelance college pupils as a result of too few state-educated students square measure returning forward with A-levels within the subjects.
The findings are going to be seen as associate degree indictment of a state system that has neglected ancient subjects
The conclusions of the Exeter University study can embarrass ministers, UN agency have spent millions on initiatives aimed toward closing the people gap at university.
The study said: 'The terribly robust illustration of former freelance college students at intervals the UK's leading universities is explained by the excellence of their school/college grades, and at intervals this, a high concentration on those subjects that square measure 'strategically important' to the govt and to society.'