If you went to state school you get more out of uni

For years the divide between state and private schools has haunted our education system. A spectre of traditionalist elitism has clung to university education like Finlay’s Gucci cologne clings to his gilet.

Fortunately, as time goes on, more and more young people are able to go to university without daddy having to spend thousands of pounds cultivating them in private schools.

Excluding the few children who were fortunate enough to receive scholarships the hangover of elitist tradition surrounding the private and state school divide still exists. Although there are of course many children that attend private schools that don’t fit the generalised stereotype, it still contributes to the pointlessness of privately funded schools.

Here is why going to a state school will in fact let you get more out of university, even without caviar and champagne. Don’t even mention grammar schools.

You’ll appreciate your achievement more

Firstly, if you went to a state school and are now at one of the top universities in the country you have clearly achieved more with the opportunities you have been given. You go to a Russell Group uni, and so does that kid who spent 15 grand a year on his education. Who’s done better here?

Coming to university from a state school is therefore a bigger achievement for you. You haven’t necessarily been taught to believe you will be going to university since you were a child, or that it’s the only option. Half the kids in your class probably went straight in to work after school.

If the whole point of paying for a private school is to get a better education then surely the amount of state school students going to top universities has disproved this reducing the private and comprehensive school divide to nothing more than petty bourgeois traditionalism.

Oh, you went to a comprehensive? That’s nice.

Yes I did, and I’m still at the same university as you. 

More diverse

One of the best things about going to a state school is the social and cultural  diversity one can experience. Who wants to go to a school where 90% of the pupils are white, upper-middle class kids who think Only Fools and Horses is a social realist depiction of a council estate?

This form of social integration that is found at state schools will do more to prepare you for university and future life than any amount of one on one tuition ever will. Think about how much you’ll get out of university when you are able to socially interact without having to repress all those prejudices that have been ingrained in to British society.

You’ll have a better understanding of wider issues

One of the benefits of going to a more socially and culturally diverse school is you will gain a better understanding of the world and its problems. By going to school with people from all walks of life you quickly see how the problems within Britain aren’t just something David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn debate on a Wednesday morning.

Thanks to this when you get to university you’ll be able to empathise with the vast array of people you will meet.

You will also be more politically diverse. When you see your mate not being able to pay for his lunch because his mum’s department at work has had cut backs you might begin to question austerity.

All this will contribute to an open minded view of the world and individuals within it that will help you to make the most of your time at university, a place where open mindedness and integration are championed, let alone make you a better person generally.

You’ll have more drive to work harder

If you went to a state school you most likely had to actually apply yourself to do well. Let’s be honest, you weren’t going to get much work done in set four maths on Friday, fifth period, no matter how hard you wanted to. You could only sit and dream of the perfectly behaved class of 10 students that a bit of extra cash could get you. Well, until Harry threw a rubber at your head.

Learning to work through constant distractions is, in its own way, a form of character building that will stand you in good stead at university when you only have ten contact hours a week and have to force yourself to work.

People will like you more

Although it doesn’t necessarily mean you are an insufferably rich white kid just because you went to a private school you will still retain the stereotype. This one is more the fault of private school education and the cliched representations it has created in general.

If you went to state school, you will instantly be viewed more favourably. Everyone knows people do judge a book by its cover.

If the thousands of pounds that people spend of private schools was spent on taxes which could fund state education then the private education system, and the unprogressive establishment it reinforces, would be obsolete.