Under the current system, universities have their total numbers of students capped by Government.  But proposals set out in last month's Higher Education White Paper will allow universities to recruit as many AAB students as they wish from 2012.  The move comes as part of a plan to generate more competition between universities and give students a greater choice over where to study.  The reforms are expected to starve mid-ranking competitors of many top recruits – possibly forcing them to lower their fees from the maximum £9,000.  Today, a leading academic warned that the move also risked discriminating against students from deprived backgrounds who are considerably less likely to gain good grades.  Sir Steve Smith, president of Universities UK, said these institutions should be allowed to make use of “contextual admissions” – a system in which pupils from poor-performing schools are admitted with lower A-level grades to recognise the extra effort they make to get good results.  "Proposals to create more places for students with at least AAB A-level grades must explicitly allow universities to use contextual data in the admissions process,” he said.  "In terms of the most selective courses, it remains the case that some under-represented students often do not have the grades required. It's critical therefore that the sector continues its outreach work."  Data from Hefce shows the number and proportion of top students admitted to each university in 2009/10.  It shows that the highest number of AAB students attend Manchester, Durham, Oxford, Cambridge, Nottingham, Leeds, Exeter, Bristol, Warwick, Birmingham, Sheffield and Southampton.  Figures also show 99 per cent of Oxford and Cambridge's UK students in 2009/10 achieved at least AAB – the highest rate in the country.  Imperial College in London admitted 944 students with AAB, equating to 96 per cent of their intake, while 93 per cent of students at the London School of Economics – 617 in total – had these grades.  Institutions with high proportions of AAB students are the most likely to benefit from the Coalition’s higher education reforms, although some may not take advantage of it.
An English "Ivy League" consisting of just a handful of leading universities    could develop as a result of Government plans to shake-up higher education,    figures suggest.