One Oxford don said there has been a “constant drip, drip, drip” of pressure to “move the dial” away from private schools and in favour of state school admissions.
“The dial hadn’t moved basically for 15 years, there was a lot of talk but not much action,” he said. “But now it is happening, even if it’s just at the margin each year. The message has got through. No one likes to be ordered to do anything but after a while it seeps into the consciousness.
“There is also the element that once they have tried and tested the output of Brampton Manor Academy, they think it works, they are good kids, it makes them more confident the next year.”
The Oxford don, who is involved in admissions, said this data would make parents think twice about sending their child to a private school.
“This is a success story – unless you are paying a fortune for your children’s education,” he said. “I think the message is pretty obvious – if you are a family that is set on Oxford or Cambridge, it is a no brainer. You send them to a state sixth form college, you stop paying the high fees and they have the right flag by their name when they apply.”
Independent schools still over-represented at universities
Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council, said that fee-paying institutions remain satisfied that “most of their best applicants” are still getting into Oxbridge and that privately educated pupils are still overrepresented at both universities.
He also pointed out that independent schools are increasingly looking to Ivy League institutions in America – such as Harvard – as destinations for their pupils.
“They are doing this because these are very much the best universities in the world for certain courses and because they offer generous scholarships and bursaries to the best students in the UK,” he said.
Mr Lenon, a former headmaster at Harrow School, also pointed out that some of the top state schools for getting pupils into Oxbridge were originally created by private schools.
“It is important to understand that some of these schools were set up by independent schools in order to help improve the exam results of sixth formers in disadvantaged areas,” he said. “No one has more to promote these kinds of schools than Eton.”
The London Academy of Excellence, which has more than quadrupled its offers over five years, was set up by a coalition of private schools – including Eton and Harrow – led by Brighton College.
And Harris Westminster Sixth Form – which was set up by the fee-paying Westminster School – has also seen its Oxbridge offers increase fourfold from 10 to 44.
Mr Lenon, who was the first chairman of governors at the London Academy of Excellence, said that the high number of Oxbridge offers that go to pupils from top state schools is “to be welcomed and is not a surprise”.
He explained: “In the last 10 years, these very successful state schools have emerged. And the thing to bear in mind is that they are extremely selective at age 16, to be admitted you need stellar GCSE grades.”
Eton College declined to comment.
