The College of Law is donating £1.25 million to help attract students from less privileged backgrounds to the legal profession.



The college has linked up with the Sutton Trust on a project that aims to help 750 students a year by 2010. The programme begins with selecting students at 15/16 and will guide them through their training.



Professor Nigel Savage, the college's chief executive, said the aim is to target state school students who will be the first in their family to go to university and with parents from non-professional backgrounds. It will be aimed at schools with little history of sending students to higher education. He said: 'It's vital that our surpluses are used to enrich all our students... by ensuring they are not drawn disproportionately from a narrow section of society.'



The trust, which is donating £250,000, will manage the project.



Jonathan Rayner