Judge job candidates, not their schooling

SIR – I agree with the provost of Eton College in his adverse reaction to the Government’s proposals that recruiters should have to ask job applicants whether they went to an independent school, in an attempt to stop the poor missing out due to a lack of “polish” (report, May 30).

First, this is insulting to recruiters, who should be able to see on an applicant’s CV what sort of school they went to. If this information is missing from a CV, the recruiter should ask the question themselves. Recruiters who are not looking for potential are not worth their salt.

Back in the Sixties, about half of the intake to Oxford and Cambridge came from state schools. If this is not the case now, the solution is to find out why the state system is failing its pupils in that regard – not to penalise private schools for being “successful”.

Our children grew up in Slough. Three of them went through the state system, and did very well. The other one ended up at Eton through a scholarship. We were very grateful for the education that all of our children received, but would be mortified if the one who went to Eton were discriminated against simply because of that fact.

At Eton, it seemed to me that the children of entrepreneurial parents, or those with social or political connections, acquired certain personal advantages. This is not something to complain about: it is simply a fact of life.

It would be a tragedy for Britain if people were held back because of some perceived advantage in their background. Rev John M Overton Buxton, Derbyshire