Thousands of promotional videos are being sent to schools and colleges across the country by Oxford University in a drive to recruit more state-sector pupils.

The University wants to shed its upper class image and tell pupils at the 4,000 targeted schools that there are no social barriers to getting a place at Oxford.

It has enlisted the help of Government Education Secretary David Blunkett, who appears on the video and appeals to pupils to ignore stereotypical ideas about Oxford snobbery.

If their A-level results are good enough, he tells them, they will be considered for a place "whatever their background".

The ten minute video also features University Vice Chancellor Dr Colin Lucas, who says the university wants to attract the brightest applicants in the country.

He tells viewers: "Oxford offers a superb education, wherever you apply from."

State-educated undergraduates are also shown enjoying their studies and the city's social life and several are interviewed about their experiences on the tape.

The number of applications for places at Oxford from state school pupils fell by two per cent last year, and state school leavers made up 46 per cent of undergraduates at the University. Both Oxford and Cambridge are worried that sixth formers are not applying because they see Oxbridge as upper class institutions dominated by students who have come from public schools.

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