University accused of local bias

Edinburgh University has been accused of being "anti-English" after it emerged it is favouring candidates from north of the border.

Leading private school headteachers said they were "alarmed" that the prestigious institution has said it will "give weighting" firstly to applications for certain subjects from schools in the local area.

A statement on the university website says: "We want to make sure that our local applicants are not prevented from studying their chosen subject because of the pressure on popular subject areas."

It adds that priority will then be given to students applying from the rest of Scotland as well as Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham, Teeside and Tyne and Wear in the north of England.