So I’m a Year 12 student hoping to apply for uni next year and I’m currently trying to build up super curriculars and increase my knowledge on my chosen subjects. I come from a low-income background, am a first-gen immigrant, and go to a private school.
I have been super proactive all year in trying to apply for schemes which could boost my knowledge by Oxbridge and other Russell Group Universities. I’ve looked at mentoring schemes, summer school even some essay competitions; and all include having a state educated background as part of eligibility criteria.
Do not get me wrong, I completely agree with the fact that state-school students should be given more support and more consideration for these sorts of schemes but I can’t help feeling frustrated.
The HE teacher at my school is nice but not the most supportive and knowledgeable, and it seems like there is this assumption that all private school students are extremely privileged people who have plenty of help when it comes to universities. Although the majority are, I guarantee there are plenty like me who feel unsupported by both their school and university access schemes.
I wish universities (and access scheme providers) could just use more contextual information to assess applications, rather than just using ‘state-school educated’ to tick a box. Not to mention the fact that many grammar school students with incredible resources and staff benefit from these (as they should) but private school students do not.
I do not blame any state schools or students but the universities who are just trying to tick WP boxes without actually caring about helping all students.