Speaker of the H of C

lemon; She would have got a place there and she would have done very well. But she didn't want to live in that sort of environment; she knows she would have hated it. She was happy to go to a rough comprehensive, a decent uni and then teach at other rough comprehensives in the hope that by doing so she could help young people achieve their full potential. However, government cuts to education have meant that she's given up on full time teaching albeit still trying to help in other ways.

We appear to agree that many of the most intelligent pupils have varied and valid reasons for not wishing to apply for Oxbridge lemon

Your daughter sounds like an inspirational and and eminently sensible young woman Labaik

Labaik if she went to a ‘rough’ comprehensive and could get a place at Oxford, it does seem a shame that she didn’t take it.
She didn’t really know that she would hate it after all and wouldn’t that be inspiring to the pupils that she went on to teach?
No SirChenjin am not at all sure that we do agree, especially with the word ‘many’.
Trying for a place at Oxford is not the same as actually getting one, but I believe that schools should do their level best to encourage young people from all walks of life who are very able, to at least have a go.

Ok - then we’ll disagree lemon. I think that the pupils who wish to go to university are usually intelligent enough to choose the one that best suits their career choices, their personal circumstances, their values and so on, as opposed to obsessing about Oxbridge.

Many haven’t already decided on career choices at that point though.
Nobody, to my mind, should obsess about anything at all.
?night all, it’s very late zzzzzzz

Many have decided on the direction of travel though, if not the actual career, and absolutely - no need to obsess about Oxbridge (or Eton)

The vast majority of Oxford students did not go to Eton. Approximately 50% went to comprehensive schools. So who’s obsessing about Oxford!

But we all know that comprehensive schools vary wildly and the top comprehensives out do the majority of independent schools for getting their pupils to Oxbridge. It’s only the top independent schools alongside the top state schools that send many students to Oxbridge. For example, St Olave’s reports that it has sent over 200 students to Oxbridge over the last seven years. It says that 2016 was it’s best year with 40 offers from Oxbridge and 27 for medicine, I presume the 27 were at a variety of medical schools.

Maddyone (and others) It's the parents obsessing about Oxbridge.

Dina, I agree with Lemon, no one should be obsessing about anything at all. And if parents are obsessing about Oxford, then I feel sorry for their poor, pressurised children.

The fact that John Bercow infuriates many MPs, particularly on the government side, does not prove that he is biased. He is doing his job in allowing our elected representatives to keep a check on our government.

It is reassuring that, in spite of having an outrageously undemocratic FPTP voting system, we are still a parliamentary democracy and members of parliament can and should exercise their duty to prevent any measure which they believe would damage our country.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf3PbdgMzIk