ES Views Letter of the Day: Old boys' networks are not the answer
Robert Harris [“Oxbridge politics brought down the nation. Brexit was a clever argument to them”, February 6] defends the old boys’ network for getting working-class students from comprehensives into Oxford in the Seventies. But some of us were awarded places at Oxford despite coming from state schools with no Oxbridge connections.
Many Oxbridge colleges, if not all, were looking for potential regardless of where it came from and could see past the well-coached polished veneer of well-connected applicants. The difference now is that social mobility is more difficult for working-class students without money to fall back upon.
I believe Oxbridge colleges remain open to students with talent and potential — and this is what should matter.
Social mobility may indeed be stunted today and student loans may put off students fearful of debt, but an old boys’ network is never the answer.
Kevin Brown
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