More than 69 per cent of undergraduate offers to study at the University of Oxford have been made to students from state schools, figures show.

Oxford said there had been a 4.6 per cent increase from last year, with 3,909 state students being successful. This is 20 more state sector students than from the admissions cycle for 2019.

The institution described it as the best percentage increase in state school offers it has ever seen and said it came off the back of pledges in recent years to try and improve access to higher education for young people who have less support and information.

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The university said the overall offer rate for applications has gone down to 16.7 per cent, from 16.9 per cent last year, due to a competitive process involving a higher number of applications.

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State school pupils received 69.1 per cent of the offers, while independent school pupils got 30.9 per cent. UK applicants accounted for 78 per cent of offers, with 7 per cent of offers going to EU and 15 per cent to overseas applicants.

Dr Samina Khan, director of undergraduate admissions and outreach at the University of Oxford, said: “We are delighted by this record number of offers to state school students, and to students from under-represented backgrounds.”

She added: “We know that students from some backgrounds are not as well-represented at Oxford as they should be, and we are determined that this should change.

“Having taught in state schools during my career, I know the wealth of talent that lies there.

“We wish the students every success in their studies, and hope they flourish at Oxford.”