This paper applies an original framework to disentangle the concept of meritocracy, and the relationship between meritocracy and fairness, in elite university admissions. In Britain, elite universities are regularly criticised for being unmeritocratic and by implication unfair, but stakeholders often lack a shared understanding of meritocracy and confound it with outcomes-based measures of fairness. Interview data from admissions tutors at the University of Oxford, viewed through the prism of Joseph Soares's ideological categories of organic conservatism, democratic elitism and social democratism, indicate that Oxford admissions are highly meritocratic. Thus the question arises: in a deeply unequal society, where academic achievement correlates with family income and social class, is meritocracy a satisfactory admissions framework? The conclusion outlines an alternative path of "outcomes-based meritocracy", as exhibited by the University of California, that makes significant inroads towards integrating social inclusion and academic excellence.