THANK goodness Sir Peter Lampl has pinpointed the obstacle to state-school pupils gaining places at Oxford and Cambridge (A sickening waste of talent, Comment, last week).

When I was a student at Oxford I was shocked to meet contemporaries who had to fight tooth and nail for their teachers’ cooperation in applying for Oxbridge – whereas at my public school it was taken for granted that every reasonably academic pupil would apply. The way to change the status quo is not to strong-arm the universities, but to persuade unambitious schools to raise their sights.

Anthony Gardner
London NW10

HOME ECONOMICS: Nowhere does Lampl pick up on how a poorer student may feel struggling to socialise with their affluent peers. One of the criteria I used was the ticket price for the final-year ball. I had a great time with students from mixed backgrounds – and didn’t feel the only sad person struggling to get by on what the state considers acceptable for student living.

Fiona Powell
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire

CLASS ACTION: Why should we be surprised if working-class students don’t feel comfortable in applying for Oxbridge and the like – and why should we feel the need to change their views? I was decidedly uninterested in applying to “posh” universities, and felt the need to remain in the environment with which I was comfortable. So I went to my local polytechnic.

If we want to get more working-class students into universities there are just two things to do. First, give those universities that want to support such students, and are capable of so doing, sufficient money to do the job properly. Second, forget about the research elite, and define “top universities” as those that truly contribute to social mobility and equity.

Mike Goldstein
Vice-Chancellor, Coventry University 1992-2004

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