High Score for Brookes in Private School Poll

Unsurprisingly, Brookes has come 11^th in a poll measuring the number of independently educated students. 

Even less surprising is Oxford who not only topped the poll but finally beat Cambridge at something. 46.6% of their students came from private school compared to Cambridge’s 42.7%. In the three years examined, Brookes admitted just 105 students who’d had free school meals.

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Many people have said that Brookes is full of  the posh kids who couldn’t be bothered with the Oxbridge workload (read this to help identify them all) and lets face it, this statistic isn’t exactly helping.

It doesn’t seem to be bothering some people though. One Brookes student, who wishes remain anonymous, said: ‘It’s good. I think we have a good balance at the moment.’

The Sutton Trust, who conducted the poll, said that geographical location of the university is a significant factor. Universities based in the cities were more inclusive than those in more rural areas. London South Bank topped the poll with 24.7% of students benefiting from free school meals.

But what does this mean? Are some of the top universities turning away good students because of their backgrounds? Or are these students not applying through fear that they might not get in?

The three years covered by the survey were 2005, 2006 and 2007 but some would argue that not much has changed.

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