A former Big Brother contestant has offered to pay for socially disadvantaged students to attend a posh Oxford ball after the university charged more than a month’s rent per ticket.

Last week, MailOnline revealed students were infuriated after the University of Oxford‘s Pembroke College charged £446 per person for its 400th birthday white tie bash this summer.

At that price, a ticket for the fancy ball is more expensive than the average monthly student rent in the UK, which is £418. Pembroke’s latest accounts show the college has reserves of £287.5million.

Banker and Pembroke alumnus Derek Laud, who also appeared on Big Brother, told MailOnline he was shocked by the ‘exorbitant’ prices to attend to such a ‘magnificent’ event.

Mr Laud said he was prepared to pay poorer students’ way as the issue of a ‘growing disparity between the haves and the have nots’ was one that was ‘in his heart’.

Pembroke College told MailOnline it was ‘most grateful’ to Mr Laud for his offer and said it was a ‘welcome addition’. 

Oxford student Chloe Pomfret, 20, (pictured) revealed the price of a ticket to Pembroke College’s anniversary ball was a whopping £446

A ticket for the fancy white tie ball is more expensive than the average monthly student rent in the UK, which is £418

He said: ‘It doesn’t matter who you are. You are there on merit. You stand on the same platform as everyone else. 

‘But people do not have the same deep pockets as others.

‘Socially disadvantaged students should not be discouraged from [going because of] the cost.’

Just this week while announcing a report about disparities between colleges, the incoming president of Oxford’s student union Addi Haran said: ‘The reality is that Oxford is an unequal playing field because of disparities in the support given at different colleges.’

The author of the report, Oxford student Danial Hussain, said: ‘Oxford is a golden ticket, but not for everyone. 

‘College disparities can negatively shape student experiences, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.’

Mr Laud said one of the most prevalent reasons why ethnic minorities did not apply to Oxford was because they believed they would not be able to afford the day-to-day costs of a lifestyle at the historic university.

Students said Pembroke’s high prices showed just how ‘inaccessible’ the historic university is for working class students.

They said poorer students are being priced out of Oxford’s posh perks, such as their formals and summer balls.

Oxford student Chloe Pomfret, 20, revealed the staggering price of the anniversary ball at Pembroke, which was founded in 1624. 

Chloe posted the price of tickets in disgust online, writing: ‘You wonder why oxford is so inaccessible for working class students… £446 for one college ball.’ Pictured: Chloe with her boyfriend Viraansh on a boat ride along The River Thames, London, in May last year

Pembroke College (pictured) was founded in 1624, 400 years ago, and has reserves of £287.5million

The Human Sciences undergraduate grew up in foster care and was left homeless at the age of 16 after becoming estranged from her family.

She posted the price of tickets in disgust online, writing: ‘You wonder why Oxford is so inaccessible for working class students… £446 for one college ball.’

After Chloe’s post on social media about the tickets, one literature-loving social media user replied: ‘My goodness that’s a month’s rent right there.’

Another said: ‘That’s ridiculous. I’m a member of a private members’ club, and even factoring in the membership fee, it doesn’t work out at these kind of prices for formal events.’ 

St Catherine’s College student Chloe later added that there had been cheaper prices specifically for students, but even those tickets were still a whopping £196, almost half a month’s rent.

She previously said: ‘It’s still surreal when I walk out into Oxford. You see all these big, fancy buildings, and it’s just a whole other world.

‘You go to formals, where they’re serving you food, I have a cleaner that comes and cleans my room, and I just think, ”What on Earth?”

Other students were shocked by Chloe’s (pictured) revelation. Georgie Hobden, 25, a PhD student in Experimental Psychology, told MailOnline such high costs led to a polarising divide between rich and poor students 

Chloe previously said her life had a ‘surreal’ turn after she was accepted into Oxford University 

Social media users reacted furiously to the incredibly expensive prices at the Oxford college

Pembroke College said it had offered tickets to students for £166 and their guests at £196 but they had all sold out.

It said the remaining tickets priced at £446 were aimed at family and friends and included an element of donation that was used to subsidise  tickets for poorer students.

However, those tickets were still £106. It said Mr Laud’s offer was a ‘welcome addition’ and they were ‘most grateful’ to him.

It said: ‘A number of alumni and friends of College have chosen to purchase Celebration Tickets, or made generous donations, to enable attendance at the Ball at subsidised rates. 

‘The College welcomes help of this kind and is most grateful. All Pembroke students were welcomed to apply to the Ball’s Community Tickets scheme which confidentially allocates this support.’

Georgie Hobden, 25, a PhD student in Experimental Psychology, told MailOnline the high cost of Pembroke’s ball led to a polarising divide between rich and poor students.

She said: ‘These prices contribute to an unhealthy polarisation within the student body – those who can those who can’t. 

‘Social hierarchies and injustices that students seek to escape by coming to a supposedly inclusive university are sadly mirrored, reinforced and amplified by these distinctly non-inclusive events.’ 

Speaking about Pembroke’s 400th anniversary ball, Mr Laud added: ‘[It’s an] extremely historic social occasion.

‘[Oxford makes] effort to try and change their image and reputation.

‘They need to look much more internal. The slowness of those changes is problematic.

‘Those colleges have got be be much better at fundraising.

‘Because they are useless at it they are having to charge those excessive prices.

‘It shouldn’t be a sin to try to do things differently. They want to rely on the same old methodology.’

MailOnline has contacted the University of Oxford for comment.