England’s top-performing comprehensive schools send more teenagers to leading universities than dozens of selective fee-charging schools.
About 100 all-ability state schools send at least a quarter of their pupils to the most sought-after British universities, and at some the proportion is much higher.
Campaigners for wider opportunities in education said the figures showed that the gulf in standards within the state sector must be tackled.Others called for changes to admissions policies at the most popular state schools, such as local lotteries to allocate places.
Last week a report by a commission on social mobility, set up by Nick Clegg and chaired by Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister, showed that former pupils of independent schools dominated the 4,000 most senior positions in public life. But analysis by The Times shows that a significant minority of state schools out- perform private schools. They are based on destinations of school leavers aged 18 in 2012.
The figures exclude England’s 163 remaining grammar schools but include some schools that are partially selective for historical reasons, but are classed as comprehensives. Of these, 34 schools sent at least 30 per cent of their pupils to Russell Group universities.
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The highest performing, sending 57 per cent, was Watford Grammar School for Boys, which despite its name selects about a third of pupils on academic or musical ability.
Watford Grammar School for Girls had the second highest Russell Group success rate, at 55 per cent, and the joint highest for Oxbridge entry, of 8 per cent. It shared this with Cherwell School in Oxford, which has a larger sixth form.
The average Russell Group progression rate for independent schools was 38 per cent.