In a personal column for the Guardian, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett addresses state school alumni starting university, urging them to be proud of their background. Reflecting on her own experience 20 years ago, she describes being repeatedly asked "where did you go to school?" by fellow students, a question she initially found bemusing before realising it was a way of "placing" people on a social scale.
Classism at university
Cosslett notes that asking about schooling is often not innocent, as Britain runs on a network of private schools whose alumni often seem to know one another. She says little has changed since her student days, citing recent reports of classism at St Andrews University, which led to a student announcing she would not return this academic year. The student said: "Working-class students have been made to feel ashamed of their home life at university."
The columnist describes the shock of going from being the majority state-educated to feeling like a minority, and in some cases being made to feel "less than" as a result. She praises Sophie Pender's 93% Club, set up while Pender was at Bristol University, where she was mocked for her working-class background, to highlight that 93% of people educated in the UK attended state school and to offer mentoring and networking alternatives to the "old boys" network.
Made in State School campaign
Pender's new campaign, Made in State School, aims to shift attitudes by issuing red plaques to celebrate state school alumni, from David Attenborough and Jacqueline Wilson to Jessica Ennis-Hill and Marcus Rashford. She presented a plaque to Andy Burnham at the Labour party conference last week. Cosslett agrees that state schools have a PR problem, often framed in rightwing media as dystopian, when they are actually symbols of British excellence, innovation and creativity.
The columnist argues that private schools are often assumed to be inherently better, and that sending a child to private school encourages them to believe they are better than other children. She says state schools, being more socially mixed, teach children openness and confidence, and that interaction with people from a range of backgrounds is a vital life skill.
Advice for freshers
Cosslett advises any university fresher feeling out of place to hold their head high, noting that private school pupils' parents chose to purchase educational advantage, but that does not make them better. She concludes: "Being made in state school is something to be proud of. Become comfortable owning it, and using it to lift others up. We're the 93%, after all."
