THE region's oldest university yesterday defended its policy of rejecting applicants from private schools in favour of North-East state school pupils with poorer A Level grades.

Edward Gould, headteacher of Marlborough College and chairman of the Headmasters' Conference, yesterday accused Durham University of over-favouring state school applicants for its law course.

He told the annual conference in Newport, Wales, that the admissions policy in the law faculty at Durham was giving the fee-paying sector "cause for anxiety".

The university last night admitted it regularly made lower offers to candidates from North-East state schools and mature students from the region.

Its Local Applicants Programme, which has been running for more than ten years, actively encourages law applications from students from local schools.

A university spokesman defended the project. "They are invited in for interview," he said.

"Some may then be offered a slightly lower offer than normal - but this is only done where the academic judgement of ability and poten- tial has been based on interview."

He said the university also had a programme of visits to nearly 90 state schools in the region and organised pupil visits to the university, along with residential summer schools.

"It goes some way to encourage schools to send able applicants to Durham, where otherwise they would not," he said.

"It also provides opportunities for state school students in our home region who have excellent academic potential to raise - and possibly achieve - their aspirations in higher education."

Law is the most oversubscribed subject at the university, with more than 2,000 applicants for 100 places last year.

About 54 per cent of those accepted came from state schools, with 46 per cent coming from independent schools. Overall, two-thirds of admissions to Durham this year are from the state sector, a rise of about three per cent.

The spokesman said: "The schools system in this country is not a level playing field and we do not make admissions judgements based solely on the name or address of a school.

"Our overall approach to widening participation, in line with government policy, is to encourage applications from the most able people, whatever their background."