The Sunday Times reports that research funded by Oxford University and two government bodies shows that
some admissions tutors discriminate against independent school pupils. When making offers, they routinely discount independent school applicants' GCSE grades with the aim of increasing the number of places for state school applicants; when assessing GCSE grades they assume that all independent-school applicants should score a grade A* and mark them down if they have only scored a grade A. The research will be published next year.