Intelligence is normally distributed among the population regardless of social group. Education - the cultivation of that intelligence - has a skewed distribution because richer people buy it. University applicants' qualification levels are already socially skewed.
Universities can redress inequality only by favouring the less well-qualified but more socially disadvantaged. The solution to the participation problem lies in reform of the compulsory education system, and in particular of independent schooling.
Christopher Grey
Judge Institute, Cambridge