A LOVE LETTER TO MY STATE SCHOOL

How well do comprehensive schools prepare students for university? Megan argues that although the education system is flawed and more needs to be done to support UK state-funded schools, the state school experience can be wholly fulfilling.

It’s a grey afternoon in 2017 and a GCSE maths class begins. It is a class of forty fifteen-year-olds with a teacher struggling to manage the noise level, let alone tackle the curriculum. Those with parents teetering on the edge of middle-class can pay a tutor an obscene amount to teach them the basics to pass. But what about the others? Well, they rely on YouTube tutorials and hope for the best. A pass seems like a stretch while university remains an unattainable dream.

“By the time a student is in sixth form, double the amount of private school students go to a RussellGroup University compared to their state school peers.”

This exact scene is repeated in comprehensive secondary schools across the UK. By the time a student is in sixth form, double the amount of private school students go to a RussellGroup University compared to their state school peers. This is a result of numerous factors. State school students reportedly have less help with their university applications, such as writing their personal statement or interview coaching for elite universities. Socio-economic background can be a barrier to university too, with the idea of debt putting many students from a low-income household off.

But, why is this a problem? Not every child wants to go to university or needs to go to university to fulfil their chosen career path. However, the problem lies in equal opportunity. Every child who wishes to go to university should have the support to go, regardless of whether their parents pay for their secondary school education or not.

When I first arrived in university, I did not take pride in the fact I went to state school. I could not partake in conversations about school ski trips, or lacrosse teams, or owning a horse or a Range Rover. 1 in 5 University of Nottingham students in the academic year 2016-17 attended a private school growing up. In a hall like Cavendish, this statistic was truly evident.

What I could brag about, however, is that my parents saved lots of money and I got into the same university as my peers. What my school lacked in working glue sticks and normal class sizes, it made up for in character. It was the history teacher who ran 7:40am GCSE revision sessions with breakfast provided to help decipher the new grade 5-9 syllabus. The EPQ teacher who championed me to be the only female in the year to be invited to an Oxbridge interview. I didn’t get in, but the self-belief they instilled in me lasted beyond that half-hour interview. It was the head of sixth form who gave students their train fares to university open days if they could not afford to pay themselves. The school had beautiful diversity, and I made friends for life from all different backgrounds.

“However, the root of the issue has yet to be addressed by any recent government. Comprehensive schools are crying out for more teachers and resources.”

As the education system has been this way for many years, it seems implausible that it could change. The recent announcement that personal statements will be scrapped is a start because this has been proved to largely favour middle-class students. Furthermore, schemes such as the Sutton Trust Summer School help state school students into university with mentoring, bursaries, grade reductions and a week-long stay at a Russell Group university. However, the root of the issue has yet to be addressed by any recent government. Comprehensive schools are crying out for more teachers and resources to help nurture the talent of prospective university students.