Institutions are being encouraged to close the attainment gap between the number of Firsts and 2:1s awarded to white, middle-class students compared with other groups, the Daily Mail reports.

The photograph captures a quintessential Oxbridge scene. Rows of eager faces beam at the camera from the lawn of Cambridge University’s Clare College to mark the start of the 2009/10 academic year.

The halls crammed with desks and the sound of the ticking clock. Cambridge University Press and Assessment , external(CUP&A), one of the UK's biggest exam providers, has been setting papers since ...