I never expected to go to Oxford. As a S4 (Year 11) Scottish state school student, the University sprung to mind as a place for the English upper class, not somewhere I could even aspire to. I had assumed I’d go to Glasgow or Edinburgh, or St Andrews if I was lucky. When the time came to choose, my friend suggested applying to Oxford. A decision made partly as a joke eventually transformed into an entrance test, then an interview, then an offer. By the time I arrived at my college, after a 600-mile journey, the first thing I noticed was how rare my Scottishness was.
During the entirety of Freshers’ Week, I met a grand total of four Scottish students. This, although low, is actually a high proportion of the entire group at the University. A Cherwell investigation found that only 19 Scottish state schoolers received offers to study at Oxford in 2018; 13 English private schools each sent more than that in the same year. This indicates a massive failure on the part of the University. An Oxford degree can launch one’s career far faster than most Scottish universities can, especially in the humanities. Oxford also receives funding from Westminster, which the Scottish taxpayer contributes to. The best Scottish students fundamentally have a right to study at top universities in England, just as their English counterparts easily can in Scotland.
So why are there so few Scots at this world class university? Beyond the obvious financial disincentive for applying (unlike their English and Welsh counterparts, Scottish universities do not charge for students’ first undergraduate degrees), the reason boils down to a problem of perception. Many Scots feel Oxford to be a distant, unaffordable, and isolating place. Many of these concerns are legitimate: living a five hour (or more) train journey away from one’s university can be tiring. Relationships are harder to maintain, seeing university friends during holidays is near impossible, and, during term, students are an entire country away from their parents. There is no recourse to a weekend at home, which can be especially difficult in an environment as stressful as Oxford.
Yet much can be done to alleviate these concerns. Scholarships would certainly help tackle the barrier tuition fees represent, as the University has previously attempted in the past. Access to international storage (which many colleges open to their Scottish students) prevents the torturous experience of lugging all of one’s belongings through Birmingham New Street. The three-term system also allows students to return home frequently, and the internet means that parents are only ever a video call away. Life is certainly more uncomfortable, but, besides my little nap on a bench in Crewe after my train was cancelled, it’s not too back-breaking.
Clearly, then, Oxford tries to alleviate the concerns of Scottish students. But the issue is one of communication; Scottish preconceptions of Oxford go unchallenged because outreach remains minimal. Unlike every region in England, Scotland has no link colleges and little-to-no outreach programmes. My own admissions process was largely self-driven, apart from some needed advice from Michael McGrade, Brasenose alumnus and founder of the Clydeside Project. Active from 2019-2021, the initiative provided mentoring from Scottish Oxbridge students to potential applicants. With the project no longer accepting applications, there are now even fewer Scotland specific outreach programmes. Within Scottish schools, help for those applying is lacking. I found myself relying on various teachers’ personal effort as the structural support simply did not exist.
In a Britain that claims to be a “United” Kingdom, having only around two-dozen Scottish state schoolers at one of its most prestigious and influential universities does much to foster division. Oxford ends up being one of many institutions that is supposedly British, but is really only populated by England’s middle and upper class. The University and its colleges ought to do more: commitments to outreach programmes, link colleges, and scholarships would do much to alleviate many of the problems faced by prospective Scottish applicants. It would open the door for those, like my 17-year-old self, who would have otherwise never considered Oxford as an option.
