The university had been criticised in the wake of the rejection of a state school pupil, Laura Spence, who subsequently was offered a scholarship for Harvard University in the United States.

BBC: Oxford reaches out to state schools

Treasury's self-described "seminar for the policy community" is co-sponsored with the leading academic promoters of Shariah and SCF in the United States: Harvard University Law School's Project on Islamic Finance.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Treasury submits to Shariah