Government minister, David Lammy has accused Oxford of prejudice against black applicants, a claim rejected by the University. In The Guardian newspaper, Lammy accused Oxford of being "tinged with old fashioned class prejudice."
The University attempted to deflect the allegation by highlighting figures, which it claims show how much it is doing to attract students from ethnic minorities. In 2003, 141 black students applied, of whom just 21 were admitted.
A spokeswoman admitted numbers were low cited 2002 UCAS figures showing that only 37 black UK students achieved grades AAA at A-level
However, ex-chair of OUSU's anti-racism group, Zakir Hussein agreed with Lammy's criticisms and claimed that "institutional racism is still a major problem."