It seems that parents who want their children to gain places at Britain’s top universities should think twice before they spend a fortune on private school fees. New research, conducted by the Telegraph, analysed data from Oxford and Cambridge universities showing the number of offers made to every school over the past five years. There has been a distinct shift towards the state sector, where academies and sixth form colleges have seen the biggest increase in Oxbridge admissions. Meanwhile, offers to Eton, Cheltenham Ladies’ College and other leading public schools have been steadily falling.

No doubt some of the new bias towards state schools contains an element of social engineering: university admissions tutors have been feeling the pressure to reduce their intake from independent schools and to look harder for talented pupils from the state sector, particularly those whose families have no previous experience of higher education. But the most striking fact to emerge from the data is the type of state school that has achieved the greatest progress since 2017: the top 10 is dominated by those that are highly academically selective.

At the top of the table for state schools that have increased their Oxbridge intake most dramatically is Brampton Manor Academy in East Ham, one of London’s poorest boroughs, which is selective at sixth form. It sent 51 pupils to Oxbridge this year, up from just three five years ago. It’s a school that has been transformed since being granted academy status, thanks to a head and leadership team with huge ambition for their pupils – 95 per cent of whom are from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Brampton is typical of the schools with the fastest growth in Oxbridge places: most are in poorer parts of London and since becoming academies and given freedom to select pupils have been turned into high-achieving, tightly disciplined centres of excellence.

Indeed, it is not incidental that these schools are selective in their intake, either at age 11 or for entry to the sixth form. Selection allows them to choose those pupils who will benefit most from more rigorous teaching. Moreover, it shows that educational “levelling up” is no longer confined to grammar schools, many of which are only to be found in better-off areas and are increasingly dominated by middle-class children. Selective academies, and specialist sixth forms such as King’s College London Maths School, are opening up opportunities for children from all backgrounds, provided they have some aptitude and, most importantly, the desire to achieve.

Yet the Labour Party and much of the educational establishment is still allergic to the idea of selection or school freedom. Keir Starmer has consistently voted against academy status for schools; Angela Rayner has vowed to return them all to local authority control. Their vision for education does not, it seems, include the opportunity to excel.

All credit then to the head teachers and governing bodies of the new generation of selective schools who relish the freedom to set high standards and demand serious commitment, not only from pupils but also from their parents. The huge demand for places at these schools suggests there is room for many more in their image.

Perhaps the single biggest contribution the Government could make towards “levelling up” would be to promote this educational model – still largely confined to London – across the whole of the UK.