Tag Archives: oxbridge

Opinion: fix our school system and stop uni-bashing

As a former constituent and activist in Bermondsey and Old Southwark I greatly enjoyed campaigning on behalf of Simon Hughes and have a lot of respect for his approach to policy and the hard work he puts in, especially meeting face to face with local voters and community groups. I was shocked, however, to read quotes from Simon on the front page of Saturday’s Guardian calling on universities to ‘cut intake’ from independent schools in order to match nationally ‘representative’ proportions: 7.2% was his quoted figure for the proportion of students we ought to aim at coming from an …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 34 Comments

Opinion: In pursuit of excellence

Earlier this month David Lammy MP highlighted the problem of the low number of black students admitted to Oxford and Cambridge Universities and called it the ‘Oxbridge Whitewash’. He wrote in the Guardian (6 Dec):

“Just one British black Caribbean student was admitted to Oxford last year. That is not a misprint: one student. Merton College, Oxford, has not admitted a single black student for five years. At Robinson College, Cambridge, a white applicant is four times more likely to be successful than a black applicant. Last year, 292 black students achieved three A grades at A-level and 475 black

…

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 15 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • colin murfin
    There are numerous untried ways to generate more tax Heres a few 1. Change NIC for employers to a tiered system like PAYE ie 0% for low paid 200% for hi...
  • Ernest
    I agree. We need to explain the bases of liberal democracy. To build a fair,free and open society with the values of liberty, equality and community and to w...
  • Tim
    It just isn't true to say we used to tax the rich more. The richest 1% now pay more than twice the proportion of income tax that they did in the 1970s. Although...
  • PM
    "the general public perception that somehow the BoE Base Rate is linked to the cost of borrowing" This is because it is. The banks can always ...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    Jana - I like it. It is addressing the issue practically. The pitch is never empty and the operator loses nothing. The harder part comes later. Rules, even cont...