Private school makes you a boring clone of your mum and dad
Going to the same Russell Group unis to do the same subjects makes you a robot, apparently
Jack CummingsPrivate school students all study the same boring subjects at uni and turn out just like their mum and dad, says the head of UCAS.
Mary Curnock Cook said we’re just blindly copying our parents by studying subjects like Law, English and Medicine at Russell Group unis.
What we should be doing are tech or engineering-related courses to actually help the economy , said the UCAS boss.
Speaking at the Headmaster’s and Headmistress’ conference in St. Andrews, she said: “It seems to me that not only are your students going to the same universities that their parents went to, but they are also studying the same subjects.”
Ex-private school pupils could be turning into their parents
She added: “So I worry about a sub-section of society which is sleepwalking though an identikit education experience into an off-the-peg life which mirrors what generations of the affluent classes have aspired to.
“The future is not what is used to be – the new sciences, digital economy, digital and creative industries have changed the shape of employment.”
Figures show fee-paying pupils are likely to study at a very small group of universities and to study a very small group of subjects.
While 30,000 university courses are available, half of independent school students study just 1,500 of them and two thirds cover just 3,000.
UCAS head Mary Curnock Cook is worried about private schools
More than a quarter of state school pupils go on to study “new economy” subjects such as Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Biotech, but just 13 per cent of their peers in the independent sector do.
The UCAS head Mary said private school pupils often seem to think the only jobs worth studying for are in medicine, law, financial services and the media.
She added: “Perhaps instead of worrying about social engineering, independent schools should think about encouraging their students to be independent-minded and to develop a sense of future self that just breaks the mould a bit.
“It’s a bit of a perfect storm for the selective universities. ‘I can quite confidently predict that as students fill in their UCAS forms they are very likely to be love-bombed with offers.”