Daily Mail article dubs Edinburgh ‘society’s new finishing school’

In a grossly stereotypical, yet equally hilarious, article published earlier this week, the Daily Mail has labeled Edinburgh University as ‘society’s new finishing school’, due to its ‘well-healed alumnae’.

According to the piece, which lists the ‘current batch of society BNOCs’, at Edinburgh you can find a ‘ first-class degree in social connections’. I mean, why else are we here?

The best courses to study are listed, of course, as ‘english lit, history of art, geography and history’, while the piece also recommends that ‘anyone who is anyone goes to Pollock Halls’, suggesting that if you don’t you’re no one.

At one point the article quotes ‘royal expert’ Katie Nicholl, who states that the university: “gives students coming out of the Home Counties and schools such as Marlborough a chance to experience an exciting city within an essentially middle-class campus.”

“You go there knowing you’re going to meet and integrate with wealthy, upwardly mobile and titled people.”

It’s a hilarious read, with some parts of it sounding like pure satire: “for those well-heeled students not blessed with a double (or triple)-barrelled surname, Edinburgh offers a guaranteed network of useful connections for life at university and beyond.”

And don’t forget that “grouse shooting in nearby Galashiels, Stirlingshire or Northumberland is a must” when it’s the weekend.

Surprisingly, the article hasn’t gone down too well with the student body. Lucy Fletcher, a fourth year studying French said: “I’m embarrassed that my uni is being portrayed this way. If I had thought Edinburgh was like that when I was at school I never would have applied to come here.”

Alex Brown, a third year economist, said: “not once have I seen an Aston Martin outside of Why Not and I’m not sure what a grouse is.”

With thirty per cent of the student body being privately educated, Edinburgh has a long-standing, although unrealistic, reputation of being a university reserved for the wealthy.

The article comes just months after there was uproar when university staff sent an email to the 2016 graduating class, advising them to spent over £1,000 on clothes for graduation day.