White non-public schoolboys ‘are deprived group attributable to tradition battle’ Cambridge tutorial claims

White boys from prime non-public faculties are the “deprived candidates” when making use of to Oxbridge as their traits get focused in tradition wars, a Cambridge tutorial has mentioned.

David Abulafia, a British historian, claimed their traits had been getting used to “justify injustice” as friends from state faculties take prime college locations as a substitute.

Oxford College says its consumption from UK state faculties stood at simply over 68 per cent in 2021 – up from 58 per cent in 2017.

In the meantime Cambridge College says round 69 per cent of its undergraduates got here from state faculties in 2020 in comparison with 31 per cent from non-public faculties, based on the newest out there information.

It’s estimated simply 6.5 per cent of faculty pupils within the UK are educated at non-public faculties.

However Mr Abulafia from Cambridge College argued these college students had been being unfairly discriminated towards in utility processes for prime universities trying to steadiness out this break up.

In an article in The Spectator, the emeritus professor of Mediterranean historical past used Eton for example.

“Though Eton is among the prime tutorial faculties within the nation, its ‘beaks’ are puzzled by the sharp discount within the variety of their brightest pupils gaining locations at Oxbridge. The variety of provides has halved between 2014 and 2021,” he wrote.

“In the meanwhile the actually deprived candidates are arguably the white males from excellent impartial faculties. If they’re rejected by their first-choice faculty and positioned within the ‘pool’ so different schools can take a look at their utility, they practically all sink with out hint.”

He mentioned: “College admissions have develop into one other website for tradition wars through which ‘white’, ‘male’ and ‘privileged’ are phrases of disapproval, linked collectively to justify injustice. Imagined class should not decide admissions.

“College names ought to most likely be omitted from utility varieties. Penalising candidates for his or her dad and mom’ selection of faculty ‘strips the pupil of any company’, to cite one distinguished head.”

The feedback come simply days after the Cambridge College vice-chancellor informed The Occasions non-public faculties should settle for they may get fewer college students into Oxbridge as the schools make an effort to draw college students from all backgrounds.

“Particular person college students who’re gifted, we might need them,” Professor Stephen Toope informed the newspaper, “however they’re going to be competing towards an ever-larger pool as a result of there are extra college students coming from state faculties who’re seeing a possible place for themselves at Cambridge or Oxford or different Russell Group universities.”

However final yr’s A stage outcomes sparked alarm a couple of “widening socio-economic divide” as non-public faculties noticed a a lot better bounce within the proportion of scholars receiving prime grades.

“On the idea of the outcomes, my fear is that some deprived college students gained’t get into the extremely prestigious programs, and shall be elbowed out by these from privileged backgrounds,” Dr Lee Elliot Main, professor of social mobility at Exeter College, informed The Impartial on the time.

Each Oxford and Cambridge College have been approached for remark.