Blame the schools system, not Oxford

[The Lawspeaker]

Blame the schools system, not Oxford

The most extraordinary row has broken out after the Prime Minister appeared to suggest that Oxford University has a racist admissions policy. He today said that, "I saw figures the other day that showed that only one black person went to Oxford last year. I think that is disgraceful." But the university has since hit back, pointing out that, "the figure quoted by the Prime Minister is incorrect and highly misleading — it only refers to UK undergraduates of black Caribbean origin for a single year of entry, when in fact that year Oxford admitted 41 UK undergraduates with black backgrounds."

Laura Kuenssberg tweets that No10 is nevertheless sticking to its line:

"No 10 source - Cameron shd have said black Caribbean but says the figures are 'still terrible' + says , 'what world is Oxford living in?"

In which case, Cameron's source seems to have been a David Lammy article in the Guardian a while back. Entitled "The Oxford whitewash," it mentions the fact that the No10 source seems to be referring to: "Just one British black Caribbean student was admitted to Oxford last year". Oxford also dealt with this at the time, stating that, "beyond black students alone, 22 per cent of Oxford's overall student body is non-white (BME)". It added that 44 per cent of all black applicants apply for the three most oversubscribed subjects, versus 17 per cent of white applicants.

So what world — as No10 puts it — is Oxford living in? That's a very good question. I'd say it's a world where international competition between universities has never been more fierce. Its admissions policy should be unashamedly meritocratic. It is the job of schools, not universities, to teach kids properly and promote social mobility through excellence for all. When universities are used as a branch of the welfare state, they go to ruin.

Oxford is also living in a world where black children in Britain are given a pretty poor education. You can argue that black kids are more likely to come from poor households, and that sink schools cheat poor kids regardless of their racial background. But if the Prime Minister is looking for someone to blame, he should look first at the secondary school system — which, to his immense credit, is being rapidly reformed.

If Oxford was rejecting a proportionately higher number of black students than it was white students, there might be a case to answer. But as far as this Glasgow graduate can make out, Oxford's admissions hold a mirror up to the British schools system. One where the rich are educated best, and the poor are shafted. This, alas, is the world that Oxford is living on.

In last week's Spectator, Ivor Roberts looked at an argument that is increasingly being heard in Oxford: that it should just go independent and finally sever ties with the politicians. The more Oxford is blamed for the failings of the state education system, the more tempting this option must be.

Source: Coffee House - the Spectator Blog (11 April 2011)

[Gaztelu]

This is another case of PC bullshit coming from the UK. It no longer seems surprising.

[Treffie]

Cameron is such a tit, can't even get his facts straight. Made me `grrrrrrr` when I heard what he said.

[The Lawspeaker]

FactCheck: Are universities more elitist then in Cameron's Oxford days ?



The claim

“If you look at Oxford and Cambridge – the percentage of pupils from state schools going to those universities has actually gone down over the last 20 years…Only one black person went to Oxford last year. I think that’s disgraceful.”

David Cameron MP, April 11, 2011

Cathy Newman checks it out

When the prime minister graduated from Eton to Oxford University by way of the Bullingdon Club, he would have had to work quite hard to break out of the all-white, private-educated social milieu to which he’d become accustomed. But David Cameron thinks Oxbridge now is even more elitist than it was. True, or does he need to see the statistics professor?

The analysis

David Cameron says Oxford and Cambridge are more exclusive than around the time he graduated with a First in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) in 1988.

But both universities strongly dispute the Prime Minister’s claims. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) says that between 1997/8 and 2009/10 the number of state school students at Oxford and Cambridge has risen by 9 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.

In 2009, state school students made up a total of 59 per cent of Cambridge University’s intake and 54 per cent of Oxford’s.

Cambridge told FactCheck that throughout the late 1980s and early 1900s the proportion of the University’s intake drawn from the state sector was in the range of 44-50 per cent. In 1989, Oxford says it admitted 44.5 per cent of students from state schools.

So the situation is improving.

But there’s clearly still some way to go when you consider that just 13 per cent of all A-level candidates hail from private schools.

OFFA points out that the most advantaged 20 per cent of young people are seven times more likely to enter the most selective institutions than the most disadvantaged 40 per cent.

And turning to ethnicity, there’s no denying that the black student community at Oxford is eclipsed by a white majority, though it’s not quite as bad as David Cameron suggested.

(Downing Street have insisted that the prime minister meant to claim just one black Caribbean student was admitted to Oxford in 2009).

In total, only 41 British students of black origin were admitted last year out of a total of around 3,000.

More than 80 per cent of Oxbridge candidates were white, and in 2009, 29,000 white students got the AAA grades required – compared to just 452 black students.

Oxford says that subject choice is a major reason for black students’ lower success rate. “44 per cent of all black applicants apply for Oxford’s three most oversubscribed subjects – compared to just 17 per cent of all white applicants,” Oxford University said.

OFFA backs this up, and points out that nationally, black students are not under-represented.

“Evidence suggests that ethnicity groups are not necessarily under-represented – the issue is more that they heavily subscribe to certain institutions and certain courses,” a spokesman for OFFA said.

“Under-representation in higher education by ethnicity is a complex issue. Current available evidence suggests that, at a national level, many minority ethnic groups have higher participation rates than white groups,” he added.

Cathy Newman’s verdict

Much has been made of David Cameron’s gaffe about the paucity of black students at Oxford University. But his claim about the number of state school students heading for the ivory towers of Oxbridge is just as dubious. The prime minister’s old tutor Vernon Bogdanor has described him as “such an able student”. But FactCheck wouldn’t award him an alpha for his use of statistics this week.

Analysis by Emma Thelwell

Source: Channel 4 blogs (12 april 2011)

[Beorn]

"I saw figures the other day that showed that only one black person went to Oxford last year. I think that is disgraceful."

Translation: Cameron: "I think more blacks should enter Oxford because of the colour of their skin"

Reporter: "What are your views on the BNP?"

Cameron: "I think they are racist and discriminate on the basis of skin colour"

EDIT:

It can't be that bad for them all.Taking my daughter into the city to get her eyes tested produced a multitude of Asians exiting the dental, eye and children's hospital, the introductory nurse was African (and didn't understand what was really going on - he had to be shown the way by a Pole, of all people). The first doc was English ... she did have a rather elongated nose, so I did wonder..., and then we met the topdoc(sic) who was an Indian.

Cameron can suck my cock. An uncircumcised cock at that, and one which doesn't get hard at singing the 'Flower of Scotland' either