New figures showing a gulf in standards between independent and state schools have compounded parents' frustrations about new catchment areas.

Only one of Brighton and Hove's state schools scored more than the national average last year in a grading now considered an important deciding factor by a leading group of universities.

The Russell Group includes Oxford, Cambridge and 18 others. It has said that with places oversubscribed and an increasing number of potential undergraduates getting top grades at A-levels, it has had to look to GCSE results as an indication of which students it wants to admit.

A spokesman said while the group had no set rules on the issue and each university controlled its own admissions, the number of A* and A GCSE grades teenagers earned were inevitably an important consideration.

Figures acquired by The Argus show that of Brighton and Hove's nine state schools, only pupils at Dorothy Stringer in Loder Road, Brighton, gained more A* and A grades than the national average.

All four of the major independent schools - Roedean, Brighton College, St Mary's Hall and Brighton and Hove High School - scored significantly higher.

Brighton College head Richard Cairns said: "It shows there is clearly a great divide between the two sectors which is not always reflected in other statistics."

The national average, which includes state and independent schools, was 19.1 per cent of all GCSEs taken were passed at A* or A.

Pupils at Dorothy Stringer had a 21 per cent rate, while Blatchington Mill School in Nevill Avenue, Hove, scored 19 per cent, Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Upper Drive, Hove, had 18 per cent and Varndean School in Balfour Road, Brighton, had 15 per cent.

Sixty four per cent of all GCSE grades earned at both Roedean and Brighton College were graded A* or A, while Brighton and Hove High School had a 63 per cent rate and St Mary's Hall had 36 per cent.

Many parents were furious on Friday after Brighton and Hove City Council agreed new catchment areas for the state schools.

Others celebrated the agreement of a system the council said would be fairer for the city as a whole.

Several areas which have had access to places at Dorothy Stringer have now been cut off.

Mr Cairns said he would not be surprised if applications for independent school places increased as a result.

Parent Cate Miller, of Coombe Road, Brighton, said: "The paucity of the schools in Brighton needs to be addressed. It's no wonder parents are getting at each other, trying to get into the schools which stand out above the rest.

"There have been parents saying they will send their children to private schools but not many of us can afford it and a lot feel their children should be entitled to a good education without paying."