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Why are the privately educated skewed towards Russell Group Universities?

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Original post by weirdnessandcoffee

I come from an estate area background, am an ethnic minority, eligible for free school meals, went to a state school, have had an income of less than £16k a year, and have ended up at a top 5 law school.

These statistics do not speak for everyone.

Congratulations on your revolutionary discovery that "statistics do not speak for everyone." Have you ever done basic maths or statistics? Do you understand what an average is?

Reply 61

blondelocks

Original post by anonwinner

Congratulations on your revolutionary discovery that "statistics do not speak for everyone." Have you ever done basic maths or statistics? Do you understand what an average is?

lmao

Reply 62

Whitemouse

I don't necessarily think that it just comes down to private school pupils having better grades. I've just started at Nottingham and it still surprises me how many of my peers have been to private or at least grammar schools. From speaking to people on my course (medicine) it seems that private school pupils just have a lot more support and guidance through the application process than was offered at my school, for example coaching for entrance exams and interviews. This means that they knew what was expected and how to have the best possible chance of getting in whereas I certainly felt like I was going in a little blind.

Reply 63

Helen_in_Ireland

There is also the influence of expectations. Looking at the Oxford applicants thread last year there was a definite expectation that students from the private schools and the stronger state schools would apply to Oxbridge or Russell Group universities with some of them having dedicated Oxbridge applications staff members to guide the students through the process. This expectation is often missing in other less 'impressive' schools - my daughter went to a good state school in Dublin but SHE had to guide the teachers when she applied to Oxford.

Similarly I was recently speaking to a woman whose daughter wanted to apply to a prestigious course in Trinity College Dublin which only admitted about 10 students per year. The girl went to a school where less than 50% of students went on to third level education. The girl's teacher asked her mother to persuade her daughter to apply to a local diploma college instead - thankfully they ignored the teacher and the girl ended up graduating from TCD with a First!

Both state - educated students and schools need to upgrade expectations for their brightest pupils in order to change the present university admissions figures.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 64

nulli tertius

Original post by Helen_in_Ireland

The girl's teacher asked her mother to persuade her daughter to apply to a local diploma college instead - thankfully they ignored the teacher and the girl ended up graduating from TCD with a First!

One just feels that one would like a teacher in such cases to put down on a sheet of A4 the reasons that lead to this sort of conclusion.

Reply 65

shahbaz

Original post by ClickItBack

Not that he needs defending, but the guy you're disbelieving is I believe an evolutionary biologist lecturer, probably on track to becoming a professor.

In other words he probably knows a thing or two about the reality of heritability of intelligence, regardless of automatic knee-jerk cries of elitism.

I'm a physicist my dads a plumber, explain.

Reply 66

BrainDrain

Original post by shahbaz

I'm a physicist my dads a plumber, explain.

I imagine you would struggle fitting a central heating boiler, where if he needs to find out about clever stuff he just googles it. Some guys wear superiority tee-shirts three sizes too big in my opinion, we are all useful in separate ways.

Reply 67

weirdnessandcoffee

Original post by nulli tertius

But would you have had the same opinions if someone had been drumming into you from age 11 if not before, that the only yardstick by which academic success is to be measured was getting into Oxbridge.

That cultural indoctrination is there and clearly apparent on TSR. Look at the Oxbridge applicants threads each year before any of the applicants have had the opportunity to experience the academic side of Oxford. It is the history, the setting, the famous alumni, and the buildings that the applicants go on about but really it is about having an opportunity to join an exclusive club. The opinions expressed on TSR about Oxbridge are simply atypical of normal 17 year olds. Those are not views which are naturally held by teenagers nor are they views that are any more naturally formed by bright teenagers.

My parents are asian.

They kind of have been drumming things like Oxbridge as being a pathway for ultimate success. At the end of the day, they were happy with my decisions.
I did go to some open days, but it wasn't for me.
Sure, when I was 15 I liked the thought of Oxbridge. After doing research and comparisons (with my GCSE set backs as well), it just wasn't for me.

Reply 68

weirdnessandcoffee

Original post by anonwinner

Congratulations on your revolutionary discovery that "statistics do not speak for everyone." Have you ever done basic maths or statistics? Do you understand what an average is?