The university has a current target of at least 69% of its students from state schools.
By Branwen Jeffreys and Helen Burchell
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
Cambridge University looks set to drop admission targets for undergraduates coming from state schools.
It currently aims to admit at least 69% of students from state schools.
Like other universities, Cambridge has to submit plans to the Office for Students on how it will ensure equality of access.
The university said it was working on a new access plan that will take a wider range of factors about background into account.
A university spokesperson said its decision took into account guidance from the Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of higher education in England.
They said the focus of the OfS was now on individual students and likely outcomes rather than broader categorisations such as school type.
The university is consulting on a five-year Access and Participation Plan (APP) that would begin in 2025, which would move away from a numerical target to draw on a wide range of data including whether applicants received free school meals.
The university said academic standards would not be lowered.
Cambridge has faced significant criticism for admitting almost half of its students from London and the South East, including from state grammar schools with more socially privileged intakes.
The current vice chancellor Deborah Prentice has made clear she is interested in attracting more of the brightest students from across the north of England.
The spokesperson told the BBC: “The university will continue to take into account an applicant’s schooling, particularly if they come from a school which has not seen many applications to Cambridge.
“Other socio-economic factors will also be considered in the application process to indicate disadvantage of opportunity, as occurs at present.
“Consideration of an applicant’s school type in isolation is not a factor that the Office for Students would expect to see as a specific target in the Access and Participation Plan, however.
“The collegiate university is committed to widening participation and will continue to assess all applicants holistically and in line with admissions policy.”
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