Black students half as likely to be accepted by Cambridge as White applicants

London, Feb 14 (ANI): Figures published by the Cambridge University shows that Black students are half as likely to be accepted to Cambridge as White applicants.

The success rate in 2008 for the 202 black students who declared their ethnicity was 14 per cent. The success rate for White applicants was 31 per cent, and the overall success rate for applicants was 27 per cent.

Geoff Parks, the Director of Undergraduate Admissions, said that Cambridge is displaying a "serious commitment to try and get to the point when people stop talking about it."

He conceded that concerns over the make-up of students at the University would not be fully resolved for many years. "I'm not sure it will happen in my lifetime," he said, "but we could hope it would."

Equality campaigners and senior academics claimed the statistics enhanced Cambridge's image as an elitist institution for white, middle class students.

A record 448 minority students who declared their ethnicity gained a place this year - up from 428 in 2008, The Telegraph reported.

Soban Khawaja, chairman of Cambridge University Students' Union Black Students' Campaign, blamed low aspirations within some Black communities, rather than the university, for the small number of ethnic applicants.

Statistics show that some colleges are more popular with black applicants than others. Emmanuel College has 16 black students this year, while Newnham and Selwyn only have one. (ANI)