Can this really be true?

Posted on January 11, 2008 by Harry Haddock

Can this really be true, that it is not elitism that is holding kids from poorer backgrounds from places at Oxbridge, but Marxist bigotry?

“Sir Peter Lampl, who set up the Sutton Trust to campaign for top universities to take in more students from disadvantaged homes, said: “The misconceptions among secondary school teachers are alarming. They clearly have an impact on the number of bright state school students applying to these two great universities, despite the considerable efforts that both are making to reach out to them.”

Even with my (very) dim view of modern teachers and the  leftist bias in the state education sector, I find it hard to believe that kids are being held back because of the small minded bigotry of some teachers. If it is true, it is shocking, and should be followed by mass sackings, with loss of pension benefits. Either that, or a few beheadings.

Filed under: Liberal lefty nonsense

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2 Responses to “Can this really be true?”

  1. Phil A, on January 12th, 2008 at 5:51 pm Said:

    This conversation is a bit old (Nov 07) but quite relevant to your post as it provides empirical proof that it is not elitism that is holding kids from poorer backgrounds.

    JRD 168: “The question about the kids and the professors is a slightly different one. The three girls I teach should all get grade A at A level. They are the best in our school. They will go to university, but they will not be applying to Oxbridge for two reasons: firstly they did not think they would get in (even though their grades should be good enough) and secondly, because they did not think they would fit in. I’m afraid both those factors cannot be helped by hard work and preparation. They are still class issues, and class does bedevil education, as elsewhere.”

    My reponse: “That has little to do with reality and everything to do with imagination and expectations.

  2. FrancisT, on January 13th, 2008 at 4:42 pm Said:

    I’m sure that some people do not apply because they fear they won’t qualify (or fit in) who would do so. I suspect however that the real reason is that for many potential students from poorer backgrounds their teachers tend to not push them early enough so that they have the academic background.

    Oxford and Cambridge tend (for good reason) to look not at the number of A grade A levels an applicant gets but the number that are approprate for the subject he wishes to study. If you want to study maths (for example) then A levels in Maths Further Maths Physics would be reasonable (chemistry, biology, computer science would make good additonal subjects), however all these subjects are relatively speaking harder than more fluffy subjects.

    If as a teacher/school you get rewarded for the number of A grades at GCSE/A Level regardless of subject then you have an incentive to steer your pupils towards the easier subjects. Middle class parents tend to reject this and push their children to take the risk and work for harder subjects but I suspect that children from poorer backgrounds don’t have the same parental pressure. Hence they tend to not achieve their potential and hence not go to Oxford or Cambridge, On the other hand the upper classes in their private schools know precisely how to game the system and know that their money will protect them somewhat (e.g. they can resit a year) if their attempts at the tougher subjects turn out to be unsuccessful.

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