Getting state school pupils into their fair share of good universities will only happen if they get the same coaching and support through the application process as at private schools, the higher education minister claims today.
Most (93%) of England's pupils are educated in state schools and slightly more of them won places at the top universities this year. But still pitifully few given the nearly £3bn spent on access schemes over the last 10 years.
Top universities blame the poor quality of schooling, with the Russell Group saying poorer students don't apply because of low aspirations, lack of advice and guidance, and under-achievement at school.
Arguably it's more important to sort out child poverty issues so that deprived children have the same chances in life as their more affluent peers, than for universities to have to entice pupils to go on to university.
Wes Streeting, the new president of the National Union of Students, says pre-qualification admission - where students apply once they've got their grades rather than with predicted results - would help, an idea Rammell is known to be keen to push through.
But what is the answer? Rammell wants schools to do more to help guide pupils through the process. And he's also considering publishing statistics on how well schools do in getting their pupils to university - which is unlikely to please schools.
It looks like yet another figure to add to the league tables that denigrate schools and teachers who do much for their pupils against the odds, even if they can't always get them to Oxbridge.
