Ten sixth form students from the Mossbourne Community Academy have been offered places at Cambridge. The school is located in Hackney, one of London’s most deprived boroughs.

The Academy replaced Hackney Downs, famously labelled “the worst school in Britain” by the Tories and shut in 1995. However, Mossbourne is now a successful example of the Labour government's inner city academies.

It was one of Labour’s first academies and was recently described by former Ofsted inspector John Bald as “the best comprehensive in the company”. In total 31 students, who are Mossbourne’s first intake to sit A-levels, won offers from Britain’s top Russell Group Universities.

It has been claimed that such markedly successful state schools like Mossbourne simply cream off the most talented pupils to begin with, a charge vehemently denied by Sir Michael Wilshaw, the executive principle. He cited figures showing that 41% of Mossbourne pupils come from low-income homes and are entitled to free school meals, and that 38% did not speak English as their first language.

Instead he put the success down to their high expectations and close monitoring of staff and students. “Cambridge saw kids from an inner-city comprehensive doing exceptionally well and that must have impressed them," Wilshaw said. "Some of the feedback we got was terrific, along the lines of ‘please send us more applicants like this.’”

The news comes in the wake of increased concern about equal opportunity of access for students from poorer backgrounds in light of increased tuition fees.