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| I know all about Oxford’s class problem. It starts in schools | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| It was my first year at Oxford University and I had been arguing, somewhat moronically, that Hamlet was not one of Shakespeare’s best plays. But when the response came from the very well respected, internationally lauded don, it socked me with the force of a right hook. “Oh Alexandra, you’re not addressing a Labour meeting in Wigan now, you know,” he said with a slight laugh. I was silenced. I sat red-faced, fuming. | It was my first year at Oxford University and I had been arguing, somewhat moronically, that Hamlet was not one of Shakespeare’s best plays. But when the response came from the very well respected, internationally lauded don, it socked me with the force of a right hook. “Oh Alexandra, you’re not addressing a Labour meeting in Wigan now, you know,” he said with a slight laugh. I was silenced. I sat red-faced, fuming. |
| So when I heard that the Oxford college St Hilda’s was set to introduce a “class liberation officer” to protect working class students from bullying and patronising comments, my first thought was: “Good luck with that. Let me know how you get on with sensitising the tutors.” | So when I heard that the Oxford college St Hilda’s was set to introduce a “class liberation officer” to protect working class students from bullying and patronising comments, my first thought was: “Good luck with that. Let me know how you get on with sensitising the tutors.” |
| The college has been mocked for its attempts to stamp out “micro aggressions and classism”, which have been dismissed as pandering to the “snowflake generation”. And despite its best intentions, St Hilda’s does risk sounding as patronising as those it seeks to combat. With all respect, being working class isn’t something you need to be liberated from. | The college has been mocked for its attempts to stamp out “micro aggressions and classism”, which have been dismissed as pandering to the “snowflake generation”. And despite its best intentions, St Hilda’s does risk sounding as patronising as those it seeks to combat. With all respect, being working class isn’t something you need to be liberated from. |
| But pretending prejudice doesn’t exist is just as silly. Oxford is a strange place with strange people pretending it’s all perfectly normal. I’d gone from a very average state school in the north-west, where I had always tried to hide my studiousness, to a place where reading poetry aloud to your college pals at four in the morning was not only acceptable, but encouraged. | But pretending prejudice doesn’t exist is just as silly. Oxford is a strange place with strange people pretending it’s all perfectly normal. I’d gone from a very average state school in the north-west, where I had always tried to hide my studiousness, to a place where reading poetry aloud to your college pals at four in the morning was not only acceptable, but encouraged. |
| And I loved it. But it was the first time I’d really been aware of class distinctions, the first time I’d witnessed the unassailable confidence that a private education bestows. When a classmate tried to get me to say certain things because she just loved my accent, she wasn’t being purposefully mean. It wasn’t my fellow wannabe journalists’ fault that I walked out of my first student newspaper meeting without saying a word, because they just weren’t my people. | And I loved it. But it was the first time I’d really been aware of class distinctions, the first time I’d witnessed the unassailable confidence that a private education bestows. When a classmate tried to get me to say certain things because she just loved my accent, she wasn’t being purposefully mean. It wasn’t my fellow wannabe journalists’ fault that I walked out of my first student newspaper meeting without saying a word, because they just weren’t my people. |
| On arriving at Oxford I witnessed the unassailable confidence that a private education bestows | On arriving at Oxford I witnessed the unassailable confidence that a private education bestows |
| And while things have improved since I was there – 2016 saw the university offer 59.2% of its places to state school students, the highest proportion for 40 years – it remains far from achieving first-class honours in this department. The fact is that only around 6.5% of schoolchildren in the UK are educated in the independent sector. | And while things have improved since I was there – 2016 saw the university offer 59.2% of its places to state school students, the highest proportion for 40 years – it remains far from achieving first-class honours in this department. The fact is that only around 6.5% of schoolchildren in the UK are educated in the independent sector. |
| Earlier this year, a report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission criticised both Oxford and Cambridge for a lack of social diversity, adding that the former would need to boost the number of working-class students by almost a quarter to reach targets for disadvantaged pupils. And while the university has ploughed millions into outreach projects, studies suggest the picture may not be as rosy as my old alma mater paints. | Earlier this year, a report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission criticised both Oxford and Cambridge for a lack of social diversity, adding that the former would need to boost the number of working-class students by almost a quarter to reach targets for disadvantaged pupils. And while the university has ploughed millions into outreach projects, studies suggest the picture may not be as rosy as my old alma mater paints. |
| A study from King’s College London in August this year suggested schools in the south-east and London sent nearly 50% more students to Oxford and Cambridge colleges than the national average. It mooted the idea that “elite state schools are beginning to establish the same symbiotic relationships with Oxbridge as elite private schools”. Of the top 20 state schools sending students to Oxbridge, just two were in the Midlands, and only one in the north. | A study from King’s College London in August this year suggested schools in the south-east and London sent nearly 50% more students to Oxford and Cambridge colleges than the national average. It mooted the idea that “elite state schools are beginning to establish the same symbiotic relationships with Oxbridge as elite private schools”. Of the top 20 state schools sending students to Oxbridge, just two were in the Midlands, and only one in the north. |
| Oxford claims that 34% of its UK students are from low-income and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, but the universities minister Jo Johnson has said that only 3% of its new students will be from the most disadvantaged 20% of neighbourhoods. We’ll let them argue it out between themselves. | Oxford claims that 34% of its UK students are from low-income and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, but the universities minister Jo Johnson has said that only 3% of its new students will be from the most disadvantaged 20% of neighbourhoods. We’ll let them argue it out between themselves. |
| While my parents were working class, I knew I probably wasn’t – but at Oxford, I felt like a prole. I don’t know what students who came from really challenging financial situations felt like; I never met any. | While my parents were working class, I knew I probably wasn’t – but at Oxford, I felt like a prole. I don’t know what students who came from really challenging financial situations felt like; I never met any. |
| I was the first person from my school to go to Oxford, and I only applied because my sixth form English teacher didn’t seem to find the idea as preposterous as I did. When I went for interview, I was up against kids who had been drilled for months; I’d had a quick good luck chat with the college principal. | I was the first person from my school to go to Oxford, and I only applied because my sixth form English teacher didn’t seem to find the idea as preposterous as I did. When I went for interview, I was up against kids who had been drilled for months; I’d had a quick good luck chat with the college principal. |
| Depressingly, that doesn’t seem to have changed. Earlier this year, the Sutton Trust found that more than 40% of state secondary school teachers didn’t tell their brightest pupils to apply to either Oxford or Cambridge – sometimes because they thought their students would be unhappy. That figure hasn’t budged since the trust asked the same question nine years ago. | Depressingly, that doesn’t seem to have changed. Earlier this year, the Sutton Trust found that more than 40% of state secondary school teachers didn’t tell their brightest pupils to apply to either Oxford or Cambridge – sometimes because they thought their students would be unhappy. That figure hasn’t budged since the trust asked the same question nine years ago. |
| So instead of introducing well-meaning “class liberation officers” – which would surely make any “self-identifying” working class person run for the hills – what could be done? | So instead of introducing well-meaning “class liberation officers” – which would surely make any “self-identifying” working class person run for the hills – what could be done? |
| Among the things that helped me to survive were the kind Anglo-Saxon studies tutor who gave me secret remedial grammar lessons for the entire first term, and the friends who listened to what I had to say, not the way I said it. Charities like the aptly named Brilliant Club are doing a great job of getting bright students who might never have considered Oxbridge to think about it from the start of their school life. Oxford has increased its outreach spending by 40% since 2011 – and that has to be encouraged. | Among the things that helped me to survive were the kind Anglo-Saxon studies tutor who gave me secret remedial grammar lessons for the entire first term, and the friends who listened to what I had to say, not the way I said it. Charities like the aptly named Brilliant Club are doing a great job of getting bright students who might never have considered Oxbridge to think about it from the start of their school life. Oxford has increased its outreach spending by 40% since 2011 – and that has to be encouraged. |
| But we need all schools to be talking to children about their university choices, and encouraging them to aim high from the day they walk through the gates. We have to teach all of our children – not only those who have access to elite grammars and selective sixth forms – that their horizons are as wide as they can see, not as narrow as they are told. | But we need all schools to be talking to children about their university choices, and encouraging them to aim high from the day they walk through the gates. We have to teach all of our children – not only those who have access to elite grammars and selective sixth forms – that their horizons are as wide as they can see, not as narrow as they are told. |