The universities of Oxford and Cambridge appear to have an incurable and inherent bias towards applicants from the minority of schools that are well-resourced to prepare their pupils for Oxbridge entrance.
The heavy emphasis on research and international scholarship means that many Oxbridge academics are also unable or unwilling to teach undergraduates on the scale that an undergraduate university really requires.
An Oxbridge undergraduate experience will, of course, provide significant future benefits to the very small number of lucky undergraduates who actually do get a place, and who can get the attention of a tutor to teach them.
But is this really the best use to which these ancient and famous universities can be put? And is the price of social exclusion one worth paying?
Can we keep Oxford and Cambridge as international centres of learning, but lose the effects of social exclusion caused by the inevitably socially biased admissions regime for bachelor degrees?
Can we break the hold that Oxbridge undergraduates have over so many areas of public and professional life, but keep the academic reputations of the two universities intact?
Shouldn’t we just turn Oxford and Cambridge into postgraduate universities?
David Allen Green was educated at a comprehensive school, a local tertiary college, and Oxford University.
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