One of the pleasures that social media brings to teachers is the capacity to reconnect with former students.

Recently, I spoke with one whom I taught when leading the International Baccalaureate in 2009 at George Dixon School (now Academy), an inner-city Birmingham comprehensive with a diverse student body and high levels of disadvantage.

I remember talking to him once about the barriers preventing him from thinking that university was for him. After doing his GCSEs, he hadn’t even been committed to a sixth-form course - no one had talked him through the different options or opportunities that might take him into a professional career.

It was only on GCSE results day, when he had done better than expected, that he mooched in to explore what might happen next: as head of sixth form, I hoovered him up.

In the end, he won a place at a Russell Group university despite a range of challenges bearing down on his personal and educational life, and I couldn’t be prouder that he’s now an English teacher.

Opening opportunities

Ever since then, I have been interested in what stops too many high-performing young people in state schools from applying for our best universities.

In fact, it was one reason I took up the post of deputy head (partnerships) at Eton, where I now lead a project working cross-sector with Star Academies, which aims to give young people in the Midlands, Greater Manchester and Teesside a coherent and focused pathway into the very best universities - and most difficult courses - in the country.

This is why I was excited to read a recent working paper by my colleagues at Eton’s Centre for Innovation and Research in Learning (CIRL) into the barriers and blockers that stop bright students in London from applying to Oxbridge.

To do this, they carried out in-depth research at two state sixth forms in the capital - one highly selective, one less so - talking to students, teachers and parents about the thinking and decision making that goes into university applications.  

The barriers to overcome

So, what did the CIRL research reveal?  

Well, firstly, there was little evidence that young people doubted their intellectual or academic capacity: it was other factors that put them off.  

What was an issue was the impact of parental experience on aspiration in the direction of Oxbridge or other top universities.

Parents who themselves have attended university are more likely to be involved with their child’s choice of university than those who have not. This is specifically relevant to our project because we are expecting and planning to recruit young people who would be the first in their families to attend higher education.

CIRL also found that students whose parents have not attended university are more likely to consider staying in the same city when attending university, as they do not want to lose the social support of close-by family and friends.

More broadly, the research found that high-achieving students who might reasonably have set their sights on Oxford or Cambridge found the actual settings daunting and were unsure if they would really fit into such environments.

As such, it is clear the work we are doing with Star Academies has several barriers to consider - and any other state-private partnership with similar aspirations will likely face similar issues.

Three ways to improve access

So, what are we going to do about it?

First, we are going to design bespoke university pathway programmes, built on the very best evidence, and bring together Eton’s expertise in the Oxbridge entry process with Star’s extraordinary ability to raise aspirations.

These pathways will include a number of bespoke EtonX courses, which will be designed in collaboration with our local friends and partners.

Second, we are already engaging a wide range of stakeholders across Oldham, Middlesbrough and Dudley, with over 60 schools now in our partnership network to make them aware of the support available.

Crucially, these stakeholders include groups of parents and others who want the very best for their children.

Third, we intend to “sweat our assets”. Having been founded in the 15th century as a sister institution to King’s College Cambridge, we are fortunate our campus looks and feels relatively similar to those of Oxbridge colleges.

We will use this constructively to help children acclimatise and give them the confidence to feel like they belong.

It is a simple idea but one any other state-private partnerships should look to consider in order to help “demystify” the outward appearance of the grand settings some schools and universities are fortunate to enjoy, and make them feel real and approachable to all.

It is 14 years now since I had to convince the student I mentioned earlier that university was for him. Sadly it remains the case now that too many high-achieving young people in less privileged towns see Britain’s world-class universities as a step too far.

Together, we must all work to overcome that idea. We will aim to do just that in Dudley, Oldham and Middlesbrough through our Eton and Star partnership - and, hopefully, many more partnerships can continue to do so across the country.  

Tom Arbuthnott is deputy head (partnerships) at Eton College