Students from private schools are 55 times more likely to get a place at Oxford or Cambridge University than state school students who receive free school meals, a report out yesterday claimed.

New research found private school pupils were also 22 times more likely to go to a top-ranking university than students who are entitled to free school meals (FSM) – the government’s measure of deprivation.

The figures were published by British education charity The Sutton Trust in a report investigating access to university. It said the “stark” gap in university participation began at GCSE level, when students at independent schools were three-and-a-half times more likely than FSM pupils to get five A*-C GCSEs including English and maths.

This led to less than one in 100 students admitted to Oxford or Cambridge being FSM pupils between 2005 and 2007.

At the 25 most selective universities, FSM pupils made up just two per cent of the student intake compared with 72 per cent of other state school pupils. The report, entitled Responding to the new landscape for university access, said: “This newly available data provides an insight into the extent of the widening education gap between the latest cohorts of the poorest and most privileged students both at school and university. “Careful consideration will be needed if the FSM indicator is to be used as a way of identifying students for support through university access schemes.”

The report added: “Access agreements agreed between universities and OFFA should include an explicit commitment to proven outreach work such as summer schools and mentoring schemes.”