White Students Are Minority in Oxbridge Applicants for 1st Time

The number of UK applicants from the white ethnic group dropped from 50.7 percent in the last application cycle to 49.2 percent this year.

All Souls College after university students have been sent home and tourists are staying away from Oxford's streets, and colleges of learning are deserted during the coronavirus lockdown, in Oxford, United Kingdom, on April 3, 2020. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The minority of applicants for Oxbridge university and medical degrees this year were from a white ethnic background, new data reveal.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) released its first report of the 2024 undergraduate cycle, which indicates that for the first time on record, 49.2 percent of UK applicants were from the white ethnic group. The number had dropped from 50.7 percent last year, and compares to 67.9 percent in 2015.