The University of Bradford is achieving success in attracting students from diverse backgrounds, according to the latest league tables.

Statistics compiled by the Higher Education Council for England (HEFCE) show the University has performed "significantly better than expected" in the number of working class students it enrols.

It has 35 per cent from classes IIIM, IV and V, well above the HEFCE benchmark of 28 per cent and also above the national UK average of 25 per cent. Leeds has 16 per cent from this group, and Leeds Metropolitan 28 per cent.

However Bradford has above average numbers of drop-outs - 17 per cent, compared with a national rate of 16 - and a below-average record in graduate recruitment.

A total of 92 per cent of its students to graduate in 2001 were in work six months later - the average is 93 per cent. The figure for Leeds was 96, Leeds Metropolitan 92.

Better news for Bradford came in the information released on the origins of its recruits. At Bradford, 91 per cent of students joined from state schools and colleges, above the HEFCE benchmark of 89 per cent and above the national average of 86 per cent.

The University also performs well in the level of participation by disabled students in higher education, defined by those claiming disabled students' allowance. While the average shows universities have only 1.5 per cent of disabled students, Bradford has 2.2 per cent.

Head of Disability Services, Liz Clarke, said: "The University has a strong commitment to ensure disabled students are not disadvantaged in their studies and was one of the first universities in the country to have a disability office."

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chris Taylor, said: "These statistics show that we are making a firm commitment within all areas of widening participation in higher education."