Source: Alamy

On my own: some don¡¯t see link between social advantages and entry success

When asked to explain why they gained admission to the University of Oxford, the institution¡¯s students offer a simple explanation: ¡°Because I¡¯m worth it.¡±

That¡¯s the impression you get from reading a British Educational Research Journal paper by academics from Harvard University and Oxford, which says that the latter¡¯s undergraduates ¡°reproduce social inequality¡± by professing that they won their places on merit alone.

Most of those interviewed for the paper downplay the importance of their school or social background ¨C despite many admitting that educational opportunities play a major role in student attainment.

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Just 7 per cent of UK schoolchildren are privately educated, but among Oxbridge undergraduates the figure is 40?per cent. However, 80?per cent of those interviewed believe Oxford¡¯s admissions are ¡°meritocratic¡±, says the paper by Natasha Kumar Warikoo, associate professor at Harvard¡¯s Graduate School of Education, and Christina Fuhr, a research student at Oxford¡¯s department of sociology.

Satisfaction with the status quo means that Oxford students are unlikely to tackle the ¡°dearth¡± of state school or ethnic-minority students at Oxbridge once they graduate and take public roles, the authors argue.

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In fact, students are less worried about fair access than their tutors, says the paper, ¡°Legitimating status: perceptions of meritocracy and inequality among undergraduates at an elite British university¡±.

Most of the 46 undergraduates interviewed say that admissions tutors should not take applicants¡¯ social backgrounds into account when making offers, despite the widespread use of ¡°contextual data¡±.

While many lament how poor schooling could prevent poor students from attending good universities, they do ¡°not make connections to the advantages that they themselves enjoyed in the admissions contest¡±, the paper says.

Only 37 per cent of those interviewed feel that social class should be a factor in admissions. Most ¡°acknowledge the minimum necessary to explain stratification¡± because criticising the system could endanger their ¡°self-worth¡±. These ¡°future leaders place responsibility outside the gates of elite higher educational institutions¡±, the paper concludes, adding that such an attitude ¡°reproduces social inequality¡±.

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An Oxford spokeswoman said that contextual data were already used in admissions, while many private entrants were scholarship students from low-income families.

While private schools account for 7?per cent of all UK schoolchildren, they provide 33 per cent of those achieving AAA at A level, she added.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com