Top-class pupils

REPORTS of top UK universities falling down the world ratings suggest these institutions are suffering because they have been obliged to increase the number of pupils they accept from state schools.

I find this offensive. How will state school pupils currently at top universities feel if it’s said that they gained their places only because government policy has made the universities offer more places to poor, less well-educated state school students?

My daughter, who attended state schools and a sixth form college, is almost at the end of her first year at Cambridge. With a birthday on July 31, she has always been one of the youngest in her class.

She has never had a tutor for anything outside school. She is one of four children, so there has never been an excess of money. In place of money, there was/is love and encouragement. Picnic lunches on numerous treks around London (a great learning experience) replaced holidays abroad, school skiing trips, music lessons, etc.

For her 18th birthday, she asked for a harp. She couldn’t even read music, but we bought her the instrument and she taught herself to play it.

Most Cambridge students are in the 93 to 95 per cent Universal Mark Scheme bracket.

My daughter is on 98.5 per cent. I defy anyone to tell me that my state school-educated daughter is part of the reason why UK universities are falling down the world rankings. She was accepted because she deserves her place among the privileged and privately educated.

ANgELA J. ZADURIAN, Harrow, Middx.