Academics at Oxford University have defended their decision not to offer a place to a deaf student who went on to score six A grades at A-level.

Anastasia Fedotova from Manchester failed in her application to Brasenose College, Oxford after a written exam and two interviews.

Her rejection prompted claims that Oxford's admissions policy discriminated against those with disabilities.

Anastasia failed to win a place at Brasenose College

But the two tutors who interviewed Anastasia said they had been at pains to take her special circumstances into account.

Professors Richard Haydon and Philip Maini said the Russian-born teenager had simply been outperformed in an internal test by other applicants.

"We have a lot of candidates who are expected to get four As and we have to choose between them," Professor Haydon told the Daily Mail newspaper.

"We felt that, even allowing for Anastasia's special circumstances, we had been as fair as we possibly could in this case.

"It would be inappropriate for me to go into any details about how she performed in any of the procedures," said Professor Haydon.

Professor Maini said the university had a good track record in accommodating disabled students.

"We have people at the university with disabilities and we have had letters from deaf students who have done very well here," he told the Mail.

Two college interviews

Writing to the Independent newspaper on Wednesday, senior fellow at Brasenose College, Dr John Peach said it was impossible for the university to distinguish between candidates based solely on their application forms and predicted A-level grades.

"They are all required to sit a university-wide written test which gives a comparison between all candidates irrespective of college," Dr Peach wrote.

"All have a minimum of two interviews at Brasenose and a further interview at another college."

Dr Peach said the college had contacted Anastasia's school to ask how the interviews should be conducted and her interviewers were " sympathetic and experienced".

Deaf student's plea

In another letter to the Independent, medical student Helen Grote urged those with disabilities not to be put off applying to Oxford.

"As a profoundly deaf medical student (from a state school) who has just completed her third year of preclinical medicine, and is returning to Magdalen College in October, to undertake a D.Phil, I would like to encourage any potential disabled applicants to the university not to be discouraged by the recent wave of media reports concerning this isolated case," wrote Ms Grote.

Anastasia has since been offered a place at Imperial College, London.

She is understood to be considering taking a year out and applying to Cambridge University.