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My College approached every state school in a large county. One which had never sent an Oxbridge applicant before sent one - who succeeded.

From he others, silence; except one head-teacher who wrote that it was hard enough separating working-class youngsters from their parents; she was certainly not going to make it worse by sending them to mix with a lot of effete public-school snobs.

And she had at least had the courtesy to answer. How many others had binned the letter - and promising pupils' prospects with it - for the same absurd reasons?