Erm, I’m afraid that even in the year 2025, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford are still overrun by private school students. Some Oxbridge colleges have way more of an infestation of private school students than others. Use this as a guide to which colleges to avoid (or, a guide to the colleges where you’re most likely to find a rich husband).
For context: 6.4 per cent of UK schoolchildren are at private schools in 2025. But 32.7 per cent of recent Oxford freshers went to one. In 2024, 29 per cent of new Cambridge students were spawned by private schools. That’s actually up from 27.4 per cent in the year before.
Private school students who apply to the University of Cambridge are slightly more likely to get an offer than the state school pupils. In the 2024 admissions cycle, the success rate for UK state school applicants was 18.8 per cent, but the success rate for UK private school applicants was 21.6 per cent.
There are plenty of reasons why some Oxbridge colleges are overrun with private school students, and other colleges aren’t. Many people pick a college based on where their friends of family went. Some colleges might have more efficient outreach programmes. There is genuinely also a belief among some private school kids, teachers and parents that the colleges which already have lots of private school students are less “prejudiced against private schools”, and so are more likely to let them in. Now, the pooling systems at Oxbridge mean that (in theory) your choice of college shouldn’t impact your odds of getting into the university as a whole. But this traditional rumour might be a reason why some colleges still have far more private school students than others.
The University of Cambridge has three “mature” colleges – Hughes Hall, St Edmund’s and Wolfson – for people over 21. The vast majority of applicants to these colleges don’t apply from a UK school. So, those figures in this ranking only refer to a handful of students. That’s why they seem a bit out of proportion to the other colleges on this list.
The one pretty building at Eddie’s
(Creidt: DroitetLiberté)
If you discount those three, then the Oxbridge college with the most private school students are the Queen’s College, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge. Trinity is also the richest Oxbridge college – and by a long way.
The data for the University of Cambridge refers to undergrad home students from the 2024 admissions cycle. The figures for Oxford colleges refer to UK students admitted from 2022-2024. This is the most up-to-date info both unis have published on admissions.
So, here are all the Oxbridge colleges ranked by the percentage of private school (independent school) students they let in:
58. Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge – 5.7 per cent
57. Mansfield College, Oxford – 6.3 per cent
56. Worcester College, Oxford – 14.4 per cent
55. Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge – 15.7 per cent
Fitz might be up a slight hill but it’s quite nice once you’re there x
=53. Brasenose College, Oxford – 19.7 per cent
=53. Jesus College, Cambridge – 19.7 per cent
52. King’s College, Cambridge – 20.9 per cent
51. Hertford College, Oxford – 21.7 per cent
50. Selwyn College, Cambridge – 21.9 per cent
=48. Homerton College, Cambridge – 23.7 per cent
=48. St Catharine’s College, Cambridge – 23.7 per cent
47. St Anne’s College, Oxford – 25.2 per cent
46. Somerville College, Oxford – 26.2 per cent
45. Emmanuel College, Cambridge – 27.1 per cent
44. Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge – 27.2 per cent
43. Wadham College, Oxford – 27.9 per cent
42. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge – 28.6 per cent
=40. Downing College, Cambridge – 29.1 per cent
=40. Newnham College, Cambridge – 29,1 per cent
=38. Christ’s College, Cambridge – 29.5 per cent
=38. St John’s College, Oxford – 29.5 per cent
37. Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge – 33.3 per cent
Random fact: Oliver Cromwell’s head is buried somewhere in the gardens of Sidney
36. Magdalene College, Cambridge – 30.4 per cent
35. Queens’ College, Cambridge – 30.5 per cent
34. Girton College, Cambridge – 30.8 per cent
33. Churchill College, Cambridge – 30.9 per cent
32. Peterhouse, Cambridge – 31.0 per cent
=30. Balliol College, Oxford – 31.5 per cent
=30. Pembroke College, Cambridge – 31.5 per cent
29. Jesus College, Oxford – 32.0 per cent
28. Trinity Hall, Cambridge – 32.1 per cent
27. University College, Oxford – 32.2 per cent
26. St Catherine’s College, Oxford – 33.0 per cent
25. Christ Church, Oxford – 33.7 per cent
24. Murray Edwards College, Cambridge – 34.6 per cent
23. Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford – 35.8 per cent
22. St Hilda’s College, Oxford – 36.0 per cent
Ta-da!
21. St Edmund’s Hall, Oxford – 36.2 per cent
20. Merton College, Oxford – 36.3 per cent
19. Exeter College, Oxford – 36.4 per cent
18. Magdalen College, Oxford – 36.5 per cent
17. Robinson College, Cambridge – 36.8 per cent
16. St Peter’s College, Oxford – 38.1 per cent
=14. Clare College, Cambridge – 38.2 per cent
=14. St John’s College, Cambridge – 38.2 per cent
13. Keble College, Oxford – 39.1 per cent
12. Corpus Christi College, Oxford – 40.2 per cent
The hall at Corpus Christi, where creepy paintings of old white men glare down at you while you eat toast
(Credit: Jorge Royan)
11. Trinity College, Oxford – 40.3 per cent
10. St Hugh’s College, Oxford – 42.2 per cent
9, Lincoln College, Oxford – 43.0 per cent
=7. New College, Oxford – 43.5 per cent
=7. Oriel College, Oxford – 43.5 per cent
6. Pembroke College, Oxford – 44.4 per cent
5. Trinity College, Cambridge – 45.6 per cent
4. The Queen’s College, Oxford – 49.7 per cent
=2. Hughes Hall, Cambridge – 50.0 per cent
=2. Wolfson College, Cambridge – 50.0 per cent
1. St Edmund’s College, Cambridge – 75.0 per cent
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