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The legendary Oxford interview — during which a universityacademic invites a prospective undergrad into her study, hands hima cup of tea and ruthlessly probes the limits of his intelligence— is often cited as the scariest part of applying to theuniversity. But for some young hopefuls, the overflowingbookshelves and wood paneling in a typical professor's study arejust as likely to throw them as any question about Rousseau's"social contract." For students from the inner city, many of whomhave grown up with concrete and fluorescent lights, it's easy to beoverawed. That's why, in one of the roughest parts of London, a public schoolrecently built a little piece of Oxford — a replica don's room— in the hopes of boosting students' confidence when they gofor an interview in the real thing. Two days a week, students fromBrooke House Sixth Form College in Hackney, known as BSix, gatheramid the room's leather-bound tomes, gilded picture frames andChesterfield sofa to meet with an Oxford history tutor to prepareto apply to either Oxford or Cambridge (also known in Britain asOxbridge). (MORE: Britain's Universities: Funding Excellence) BSix's students — among the poorest in the U.K. — willneed all the help they can get. In wealthier parts of the countrylike Reading and Hammersmith, students in public schools are 50times more likely to gain acceptance to Oxford or Cambridge thantheir counterparts in Hackney. They also face fierce competitionfrom students armed with the best education money can buy: in 2010,Oxford offered 44% of its places to students from private schools,despite the fact that only 7% of British students attend them. Thescales are weighted so heavily, in fact, that five British privateschools sent more students to Oxford and Cambridge between 2007 and'09 than 2,000 public schools combined, according to the SuttonTrust, an educational charity in the U.K. And things don't appearto be changing quickly. In 2010-11, Britain's top 20 universities— known as the Russell Group — took proportionately fewerstudents from state-funded, public schools than the year before,according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. When it comes to race, the numbers are even more dire. A recentinvestigation by Parliament member David Lammy found that in 2009,only 27 black students were offered undergraduate places at all ofOxford's colleges combined. For the entire decade from 1999 to2009, black students received 10 or fewer places at more than halfof Oxford's undergraduate colleges. Merton College, which accepted795 white students during that period, admitted just four blackstudents. (The real tragedy, some would argue, is that in those 10years, only 32 black students applied to the college.) (MORE: The Queen Addresses Parliament, but Can Parliament AddressInequality?) Oxbridge admissions are a subject that Britain's class warriorsregularly clash over. Yet even the most hardened elitists would notdeny that, historically, Oxford and Cambridge have served as astopover for cosseted dauphins on their ascent from Britain's bestschools to its halls of power. Every university-educated PrimeMinister save Gordon Brown has attended either Oxford or Cambridge,and the tradition shows no sign of changing. Prime Minister DavidCameron and his deputy, Nick Clegg, both attended top privateschools and then Oxbridge, as did almost 40% of their Cabinet.Labour leader Ed Miliband attended Oxford, though he did not attenda private secondary school. It's not just politicians. All but oneof the judges sitting on the U.K.'s Supreme Court and 81% of thecurrent senior judiciary in the country studied at one of the twostoried universities. Of the leading British journalists who wentto university, more than half were educated at Oxford or Cambridge,according to a 2007 study by the Sutton Trust. (VIDEO: TIME's Interview with David Cameron) The cabinet's privileged pedigree hasn't prevented its leaders fromtrying to address the problem, however. Last month, the governmentannounced a record £900 million ($1.46 billion) budget foroutreach to disadvantaged students, a total that has grown by $162million in the past three years. And in late February, thegovernment made the controversial decision to appoint Les Ebdon,vice chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, as director ofthe Office for Fair Access. Ebdon's suggestion that the governmentwithhold some funding for universities that fail to admit more poorstudents sparked a middle-class firestorm. The Sunday Times of London splashed the headline "Will This Man Stop Your ChildGoing to a Top University?" across an unflattering picture of Ebdonsuperimposed over an idyllic Cambridge college. In the photo, Ebdonholds a sign reading, "Please Keep Out — Unless from aDisadvantaged Group, as Approved by the Dept. Social Engineering." Meanwhile, Oxford, which would rather the government not fiddlewith its admissions policies, has pursued its own reform agenda.The university now spends $4 million a year on student outreach,which includes school visits and teacher-training sessions aimed atencouraging poor and minority students to apply to the university.In 2010, Oxford also launched a summer school called UNIQ, whichgives some 500 academically talented, state-school students achance to experience studying at Oxford for a week. In addition,the university admissions office highly recommends to tutors thatqualified students from poor areas be invited for interviews. Andit has set of a target of increasing the number of undergrads fromsocioeconomically disadvantaged areas from 6.1% to 9% by 2016-17. (MORE: A Perfect Day .. in Oxford) Still, the university balks at the idea of admitting a student withlower grades just because of his or her socioeconomic background."If your education is based around one-on-one tutorials withleading academics, you've got to select people who are reallybright and will respond to that sort of educational system," saysOxford press officer Julia Paolitto. British parents paying throughthe nose for private schooling to ensure their children's places atOxbridge tend to agree. But even those working in inner-city publicschools say putting too much weight on a student's background maynot be a good idea. "We don't want any concessions from anybody,"says Ken Warman, principal of BSix. "It's not a good message forour students. Would you be as confident if you were let in becauseof where you were from?" One thing everyone seems to agree on is the need for more brightdisadvantaged students to apply. And in that area, there's a lot todo. According to the Sutton Trust, less than half of public-schoolteachers urge their most promising students to consider Oxford andCambridge. "There is an awful lot of mythology about what it is andisn't to become a student at Oxford," says Mike Nicholson, directorof undergraduate admissions at Oxford. "We now spend a lot of timechallenging that mythology." (PHOTOS: Cambridge University's Annual May Balls) For one student in Hackney, this has worked. In 2008, 16-year-oldAllun Bokhari arrived at BSix having dropped out of his previousschool, with no academic qualifications. At first glance, he hardlyseemed like Oxbridge material. Yet his teachers quickly spottedthat he was smart and began helping him preparing for the teststhat Oxford requires. Two years later, Bokhari was accepted tostudy history and politics at Queen's College, Oxford. In 2011,BSix sent a student to Cambridge, bringing the school's Oxbridgetotal to two. Warman says it may not seem like many, but looks canbe deceiving. "For a college like ours, that's a big breakthrough." PHOTOS: TIME's Pictures of the Week. PHOTOS: Cartoons of the Week. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Auto Electric Fuel Pump , Ribbed V Belt for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Motor V Belt.
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