As a state-school kid from a council estate, I experienced Oxbridge privilege differently

YOU guys are paying attention to the wrong Johnson brother. While BoJo grabs the headlines by doing what can only be described as “his thing”, the more sensible sibling is educating us all on the subtle means by which social mobility is restricted in this country. At a fringe event of the Conservative Party Conference, universities minister Jo Johnson was challenged over the shortfall between student loans and living costs, and countered with this point: “There are many other ways in which students could fill that gap.”

Indeed there are. A recent University of Swansea survey claims that, improbable as it sounds, that one in 20 students have turned to sex work to get by, but fortunately Johnson went on to list some of the available options he had in mind: “They can work, as many, many students do. They can also save, and then of course they can borrow from their parents, if they wish.” He’s right that student experiences of higher education can vary but isn’t that exactly the problem?

Back in the autumn of 2002, I heartily wished to borrow enough from my parents to fund my studies but since assumed riches did not exist, it was not to be. Like Jo Johnson himself and 54 per cent of my fellow journalists I had a place at Oxbridge. Unlike Jo Johnson and 51 per cent of journalists, however, I was state-school educated and grew up in a council estate. I’d likely have fallen into that same gap were it not for Cambridge University’s bursary scheme. This was offered in the belief that “our students should not work during term-time”, and when I wanted to continue my studies, with a journalism postgrad at City University, it gave me a bursary towards that too.

How lovely for me, right? Very few follow a similar path but because Oxbridge colleges are rich with endowments and still home mostly to the children of the wealthy; they can afford to be generous. I’m boring on about it because while we all know that it takes money to make money, it’s less widely understood that privilege also accrues exponentially. So, having seen the inside of those oak-panelled libraries and softly lit Provost’s lounges, I feel it is my duty to smuggle out the esoteric scholastic wisdom formed therein: students who are forced to turn to stripping to make ends meet do tend to do less well in their exams.

Improving access to higher education isn’t only about who gets past the bouncers but about how they ’re treated once they’re in the club. Johnson’s attitude — I call it the “Let them eat pesto pasta” approach — ignores how money stress creates a tiered system within universities. Lower income or mature students with part-time jobs receive a lower-quality education yet still pay the same (rising) tuition fees. These cheated individuals are also often the ones who’ve had to fight hardest for their university place to begin with, and to whom it means the most.

At least this week one Johnson brother did his bit to make cashstrapped students feel better about their lot. By reciting colonial poetry in Myanmar and cracking sub-Unilad jokes about Libya, Boris has conclusively disproven that old canard of the gap yah bore; travel does not broaden the mind. Save your money and go straight to uni instead.

A ‘let them eat pesto pasta’ approach ignores how money stress creates a tiered system at university