Grammar schools ‘dominate’ places among state school pupils at Cambridge University – with QE leading the way

Queen Elizabeth’s School sent more pupils to Cambridge than any other state 11-18 school in 2009, according to new admissions figures obtained by Varsity newspaper through the Freedom of Information Act.

Twenty-two QE boys gained places at Cambridge this year. Of the seven schools above Queen Elizabeth’s School in Varsity’s listing, the only non fee-charging school is a selective sixth form college based in Cambridge. The independent schools listed include Westminster School and Eton College.

Among this year’s Cambridge intake, only 48% are from state schools, even though a large majority of school leavers come from such schools. However, Varsity contends that, although Cambridge admissions statistics are often used to highlight the division between independent and state schools, its own findings reveal that the picture is complicated than this overall figure would suggest.

“The proportion of state school students is dominated by students coming from successful and selective grammar schools…,” the Varsity article states. The publication found that one in three state-educated freshers at Cambridge went to grammar school, yet nationally just 3.8% of pupils are in state selective education. Some 70% of the UK’s 233 grammar schools sent pupils to Cambridge this year.

“Of the 2,999 British-educated freshers, just 717 (24%) are from non-grammar state schools, despite the fact that, based on figures from the Independent Schools Council and the Sutton Trust, such schools make up 90% of the national school-leaving population,” Varsity added.

The university’s Admissions head, Dr Geoff Parks, claimed the findings demonstrate that “selective education works”.

“It’s very clear that a young person will thrive if there’s competition within the school they’re in,” he told Varsity. “At grammar schools and independent schools there is an expectation of going to university; effectively once students are through the door they’re in a system that will make them into a competitive applicant, and very little can go wrong.

“They are limited only by their own ability, whereas at some comprehensive schools there’s less support, students may be put off applying, and so on.”

Varsity’s findings are congruent with figures from 2008, which revealed that 33% of applications originating from grammar schools had been successful, compared with 25% from comprehensive schools. Independent schools had an application success rate of 32%.

The newspaper also found there were further complexities lying behind the overall statistics. A large proportion of all state-funded schools sending pupils to Cambridge had received above-average ratings in Ofsted inspection reports, while oversubscribed non-grammar state schools achieved more success in gaining places at the university than their under-subscribed counterparts.

“The situation is more complicated than just state or independent,” said Dr Parks. “What this does show us is that we need to work more cleverly to improve the access situation in Cambridge, working with schools to identify those able students and the ways they can be further supported.”