Nine of Britain’s brightest state school pupils have turned down places at Oxford and Cambridge, mostly to attend Ivy League universities in America, put off by the stuffy elitism and high fees.
It is the first time that a group of state-educated pupils has spurned Britain’s top two universities and follows a warning from the government’s social mobility watchdog that Oxford and Cambridge are failing to meet targets for widening their social mix. Experts predicted that it could be the start of a brain drain of children abroad.
Last week David Laws, the education minister, told The Sunday Times that he was deeply concerned by the situation and planned to intervene.
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([London] Sunday Times) Some of Britains top State school pupils spurn ”˜stuffy’ Oxbridge
Nine of Britain’s brightest state school pupils have turned down places at Oxford and Cambridge, mostly to attend Ivy League universities in America, put off by the stuffy elitism and high fees.
It is the first time that a group of state-educated pupils has spurned Britain’s top two universities and follows a warning from the government’s social mobility watchdog that Oxford and Cambridge are failing to meet targets for widening their social mix. Experts predicted that it could be the start of a brain drain of children abroad.
Last week David Laws, the education minister, told The Sunday Times that he was deeply concerned by the situation and planned to intervene.
Read it all (subscription required).