Teachers are ‘putting pupils off’ Cambridge
Schools should be much more ambitious for children, says first female head of St John’s College
PUPILS are being put off from applying to Cambridge University by teachers who are telling them it is “not for the likes of you”, the first female head of St John’s College has said.
Heather Hancock, who was the first in her family to go to university, said if more students from backgrounds similar to hers were to apply to Cambridge, the university must target not just individuals but also their schools.
She explained that admissions tutors must work with teachers who “are really influential and who might very easily put somebody off from thinking university is for them, never mind that Cambridge is for them”.
Mrs Hancock told The Sunday Telegraph: “It’s more than just the student themselves you are trying to target, its also the people that influence them and overcoming some of their conceptions and misconceptions, and getting them to the college if you possibly can, showing them that it’s a place where a young person can thrive.
“Whereas the colleges say,
O Come All Ye Faithful
‘We would love to hear from you, we would love to have you apply’, what are they hearing elsewhere is, ‘That’s not for you, that’s not for the likes of you’. And we’ve got to stop that voice in their ear.”
In her first interview since being announced as the new Master of St John’s College, Mrs Hancock said that if you are from a disadvantaged background, applying to Cambridge can be a “daunting prospect” unless you are surrounded by people saying “go for it”.
She said that teachers probably discourage students from applying to Oxbridge so as not to set them up for potential failure.
“I’m sure it’s because they are trying not to let people have a setback or be disappointed,” she said.
“People need to find their strengths and accept a challenge. It’s really important that everybody refreshes their understanding and gets up to speed with the realities.”
St John’s, which was founded in 1511, is one of Cambridge University’s oldest colleges. It counts four former British Prime Ministers as well as the poet William Wordsworth among its alumni.
Mrs Hancock, who read Land Economy at St John’s in the Eighties, was the first student at her northern comprehensive to take up a place at Oxbridge.
But she said she did not arrive at Cambridge “thinking I needed to make any apology for where I had come from”, adding that she was proud of her northern roots.
She said her family were “hugely encouraging” and her headmaster at Park High School, a comprehensive school in Colne, Lancashire, had been the first to suggest she apply to Oxbridge.
In recent months, some Oxbridge colleges have sought to abolish certain traditions and quirks for fear that they might be off-putting to working class students.
But Mrs Hancock said she does not agree with this approach, arguing that some of the traditions are in fact important for fostering a sense of “inclusivity for the whole college community”.
Last month, it emerged that an Oxford college had tried to abolish the customs of saying Latin grace before meals and standing as dons enter for formal hall.
Mrs Hancock,the current chairman of the Food Standards Agency, will take up her post as Master at St John’s College next October.