Senior positions within the University are dominated by privately-schooled pupils, a Cherwell investigation has revealed.
About 60% of JCR Presidents, 70% Society Presidents and 80% elected Union members are from private school backgrounds.
The inequality is most obvious in The Oxford Union. Out of this term’s twenty-two students elected to the secretaries committee and the standing committee, eighteen were privately educated, with only four attending a state secondary school.
The privately educated Union’s President, Stuart Cullen, reacted to the news, saying, “I believe the problem arises from the fact that with several notable exceptions, the opportunities to debate in state schools remain severely limited in comparison to those available to privately-educated children.”
These figures do not help the Union’s elitist reputation though, and has left some to feeling alienated from the private school-heavy committees.
Cullen is looking to tackle the issue this term, with a series of outreach programs aimed at attracting those without the opportunity at school, to participate in debates at the Union.
“This term I’ve invited two hundred state school pupils from forty different schools to attend Union debates, receive debating workshops from our world champions, and access information from OUSU.
“We are also running a debate in third week on the motion “This House believes that Private Schools are bad for the education system” which I hope might raise the profile of the issue.”
There are, however, those who claim that there is pressure in elections to use their private school contacts to win votes. One anonymous source said, “When I ran for the Union, I was encouraged by members of my slate to make use of the number of Oxford undergrads from my old school and to contact them for votes. It was implied that the old school network was an important source of votes.”
Last year 55% of those admitted to the University came from state maintained school with less than 45% coming from independent schools. The fact that, nationally, only 6.5% of schoolchildren are privately educated still causes concern for many.
Once at the University, the survey reveals that the social make-up becomes even more blurred, as the minority of privately educated students go on to take the majority of senior positions.
According to Cherwell’s figures, fourteen out of twenty-four JCR presidents went to private schools, while nineteen out of twenty-eight students who lead political clubs or edit newspapers have a private school background.
The majority of JCR Presidents insisted that students’ schooling played no part in their achieving their positions at Oxford. Others noted the inclusiveness of elections within college and said they felt no secondary education divide, unlike in some societies.
Emma Hall, a state-schooled modern languages student said that, “in applying for a JCR presidential position, I wouldn’t feel disadvantaged having come from a state school.”
She did, however, express doubts over whether this would be the case in society elections. “It seems that coming from a private school means that you are more likely to know people in societies, such as the Union.”
One ex-officer, who asked to remain anonymous, commented that they could see private school pupils having an advantage in elections. “Elections where an image of leadership skills, i.e. impressive public speaking abilities, are required, often favour candidates from private schools”
Society Presidents, Vice-Presidents and other senior positions, such as newspaper editors, remain dominated by those whose parents paid for a secondary school education.
“Perhaps having previously held a position of responsibility at school might make students feel more confident about putting themselves forward for committee positions in Oxford, but I don’t think it’s necessary,” said privately educated Emily Baxter, President of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats.
“Oxford has such a fantastic range of societies to get involved in that there are plenty of leadership opportunities for any student who wants to give it a go,” she said.
Ayo Ajanaku, privately educated ex-Labour Club President, commented that, “the only scenario in which background may play a significant role is in organisations that quite frankly do not even pretend to seek a broad appeal and such groups are in the minority despite the impression that some people give.”
A spokesperson for the University explained that Oxford would not play any role in University elections, no matter how large the inequalities.
A spokesperson said, “Students are democratically elected by their peers to hold titles such as that of JCR President. It is not for the University to determine how students vote for such positions.”
