Thirty-eight UK students have been accepted into leading US universities as part of a scheme to help British applicants from lower-income families to study in the country.

All the accepted students are to have their fees and living costs paid as part of the Sutton Trust US Programme.

Of the students who have won places, approximately two-thirds are from households that earn below ?25,000 a year, whilst 70 per cent will be the first member of their family to attend university. The acceptances are spread across 28 universities, with two being at Harvard University, three at Yale University and three at Princeton University.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: ¡°It is wonderful to see students from low and middle income families getting the opportunity to enjoy the breadth and depth offered by US degree programmes, which have long been popular amongst those from private schools.

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¡°The level of financial aid available to students on our programme means many will be able to graduate debt-free from some of the best universities in the world.¡±

The students, selected under an early application deadline to US universities, have been offered a total of approximately $8.5 million (?5.6 million) in financial aid from the institutions over the next four years.

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The Sutton Trust is a foundation which aims to improve social mobility through education, and runs the scheme in partnership with the US-UK Fulbright Commission - a not-for-profit organisation which aims to promote educational exchange.

Executive director of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, Penny Egan, said: ¡°This programme means that an American university education is within the reach of very talented young people, who previously would not have had the tools to access this specialist support.¡±

The scheme is based on the Sutton Trust¡¯s UK programme, which runs at ten British universities and which the organisation says has helped more than 10,000 students from state schools.