Oxford University has £9 billion combined wealth

According to an analysis by the Guardian newspaper, 36 Oxford colleges have 'consolidated net assets' of £5.9 billion, while the University holds a further £3.2 billion.

The calculations include property, endowments, artwork, investments and antiques.

If liquidated, the sum would pay for 236,842105 ice cream cakes from G & D's, for all of Oxfordshire's residents to go to University for a year - with nearly £3 billion to spare - or pay for Oxford United's record signing Dean Windass more than 19,000 times over.

St John's is the richest college (£592.3 million), followed by Christ Church (£512.9 million) and All Souls (£429.8 million).

However, there is an eye-opening level of inequality with poorer colleges.

Harris Manchester is the poorest college (£24.8 million), followed by Mansfield (£27.4 million) and Linacre (£29.1 million).

Together, Oxford and Cambridge University own a further £3.5 billion in property portfolios bigger than the Church of England, according to the Guardian.

David Lammy, a Labour MP who has been a vocal critic of student diversity at Oxford, told the Guardian: “Why are Oxbridge colleges not spending even a tiny sliver of this wealth on foundation years to improve access for under-represented students?”

Mr Lammy continued: “There can be no more excuses or passing the buck. With such a vast amount of wealth at their disposal I simply fail to see how it is tenable for Oxbridge colleges to continue to pay lip service to access and dedicate such a tiny proportion of their wealth to improving access.”

However, in a long statement, Oxford refuted the suggestion that the reserves could be spent.

The University said: "The University and colleges use their assets to support research, fund teaching and make an Oxford education affordable and accessible for students of all backgrounds. Many reserves are held for specific reasons and for our long-term sustainability. It is simply not the case that we have large unused funds immediately available for general spending.

"The central University’s strong balance sheet allows us to fund new initiatives for our students, staff and outstanding teaching and research. The University also needs to make a cash surplus every year to sustain academic activities and infrastructure in the long term. For that reason, reserves are used in a controlled and balanced manner, to ensure a sustainable future for the University.

"We are in an uncertain time for Higher Education funding and it is important to maintain and build reserves to ensure the University’s resilience against future challenges. The assets underpinning our unrestricted reserves include libraries and other University student resources which could not be sold off without irreparably damaging our academic mission."

The institution added that 'gifts' are often given on condition of being used for certain purposes and noted that there is a funding gap between the amount paid in tuition and the cost of teaching.