Oxford and Cambridge universities may be violating Britain's Human Rights Act, according to the head of the Universities and Colleges Admissions system (UCAS), Tony Higgins. Pupils applying for the prestigious British universities have had to choose one over the other for their application since 1985.

The requirement that Oxbridge applicants choose just one university was introduced to reduce the enormous strain on tutors assessing applicants, according to Susan Stobbs, director of admissions at Cambridge.

Higgins suggested the rule might violate the right-to-education clause of the act. A spokesperson for human rights group Liberty, said Higgins was perhaps over-reacting: "We don't see that the Human Rights Act would extend that far."