Oxford under fire for elite public school open day
OXFORD University has been criticised for hosting pupils from Radley College, one of Britain’s most expensive boarding schools, at an “access” event.
Undergraduates at University College, where the event was held, passed an emergency motion to condemn the “indefensible” misuse of funds and resources set aside for increasing access for students from poorer backgrounds.
Radley College, which counts Andrew Motion, the former Poet Laureate, and Andrew Strauss, the former England cricket captain, among its alumni, is an independent boys’ boarding school in Oxfordshire with annual fees of £34,425.
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University College organised last month for the group from Radley College to be given a talk by a paid member of staff, followed by a tour by Oxford University student ambassadors.
Minutes from a University College junior common room (JCR) meeting earlier this month, seen by The Daily
Telegraph, show that Nelli Chamings, its school and access officer, told undergraduates in an email: “They’ll have a talk from me, then it would be great to have a tour with one or two ambassadors.”
Michael Slade, an undergraduate at University College, proposed a JCR motion to condemn the decision to host a “very expensive public school that represents privilege” at the access event.
He added that while Radley students “should be able to look around”, it seemed “silly College should spend money helping to perpetuate their privilege”.
The motion noted that “the College is currently in the middle of its annual telethon fundraiser and recognises that many old members gift money in the belief that it will be appropriately allocated to the access fund”.
Last week, the Prime Minister said it was “striking” that the 2,500-strong 2014 intake at his former university, Oxford, included only 27 black students and suggested it was “not doing enough to attract talent”.
Responding to the remarks, Oxford University said it did not see the need for legislation and insisted the effects of social inequality were “already pronounced before children begin formal schooling” and could not be addressed by higher education alone.
A spokesman for the university said the vast majority of its time, energy and resources were spent on access events that “specifically target under-represented groups from state schools”. The spokesman said that events for private students constitute “a relatively small part of our overall activity”.