The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have been condemned by the Sutton Trust for the “intimidating and complex” nature of their admissions processes.

The educational foundation called for both universities to “standardise their admissions processes across subjects and colleges” to help students and teachers who are “unfamiliar with the process”.

The same report, entitled Oxbridge Admissions, also recommend that the restriction that means that students can only apply to either Oxford or Cambridge “should be reviewed”, with “further information on the access implications [of this] gathered”.

It also compared the acceptance rate of state school applicants to all Oxford and Cambridge colleges from 2012 to 2014. Five Oxford colleges (Brasenose, St John’s, Worcester, Keble, and Merton) rank within the six with the lowest acceptance rate, alongside one Cambridge college, King’s.

However, all of the five colleges with the highest rate of successful state school applications were Cambridge colleges: Newnham, Sidney Sussex, Girton, Homerton, and Murray Edwards.

In 2014, 62 per cent of successful applicants to Cambridge were state educated in the UK; at Oxford, the rate was 56 per cent. However, the Sutton Trust points out that just 7 per cent of young people in the UK go to a private school, which rises to 14 per cent among sixth formers.

In response to their report, the Sutton Trust’s chair, Sir Peter Lampl, described Oxford and Cambridge as “simply Britain’s greatest universities”, stating that: “[o]ur research over the years has shown their importance… in moulding the elites who shape all our lives.”

“That’s why it is so important that we do all we can to ensure that both universities benefit from talented young people of all backgrounds”, he added.

Lampl acknowledged that both universities are “far better focused on access than ever, and are led by people with a strong commitment to improving opportunities for able students from low and middle income homes”, adding that “there “has undoubtedly been progress” in this area.

However, he noted that the Trust’s research has shown that “five elite private schools and sixth form colleges send more students to the two universities than 1800 state schools combined”.

Lampl also claimed that “as our greatest universities”, Oxford and Cambridge also have a “responsibility” to “constantly review practices that owe much to tradition, but which can militate against fairness”.

In response to the Sutton Trust’s report, a spokesperson for the University of Oxford said: “We are disappointed that one of our longstanding access partners is actively perpetuating some of the most common myths about how the selection process works.”

They claimed that “[t]hese myths are a fundamental barrier to Oxford’s access work, and only reinforce perceptions that deter exactly those candidates we try hardest to encourage to apply.”

A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge claimed that the university has worked closely with the Trust to improve access, and “[w]e are therefore disappointed that this report demonstrates a lack of understanding of our admissions process and makes a series of incorrect and unjustified criticisms and recommendations”.

“We have a proven track record of improving access. We are committed to widening participation whilst maintaining high academic standards” and “continually review our admissions processes and the effectiveness of our extensive widening participation work”, they added.

This report comes just days after Cambridge announced that from 2017, prospective undergraduates will have to take written tests as part of the application process, intended to remedy the loss of AS-Levels.