A reallocation of the widening-participation funding, which is used by universities to attract and subsidise the studies of students from poorer backgrounds means that top universities such as Cambridge and Oxford will lose 44 per cent and 37 per cent respectively from their budgets. 

The Higher Education Funding Council (Hefce) for England says allocation of budgets is a dynamic process and exact funding changes year on year. Final allocation of widening-participation and other funding will be announced in October.

The widening-participation budget as a whole will remain at around £400 million and while some universities will get less this year, others will receive an increase. It is just a small part of the funding from Hefce to universities.  For example, the proposed widening-participation allocation for Cambridge University is £371,445 out of the university's total budget of £174 million. 

There will be a £7.5 billion increase in the amount that Hefce allocates to universities in 2008/9 and this will lead to the creation of a further 24,000 student places. 

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