That is a funny extract.

As an aside -as the parent of a (first year) Cambridge student, I also find the implication from some of my friends who are privately educating, that my son just 'swanned in' because he's from a state school background, really offensive. He achieved 4 A stars in STEM subjects, had a tough entrance exam - and two rigorous interviews, with two professors/lecturers sitting in both....

20% of sixth form students are privately educated (against 7% across all age groups) and the stats show that about 19-22% of Oxbridge students  admitted last year were from private school backgrounds - so perhaps the bias is about where it now should be, rather than the 40+% it has historically been.  The fact remains that it is incredibly competitive to get in, there are far more (well qualified) applicants applying than there are places, and UK students now have to compete with foreign students as well as their UK peers. No-one gets a 'free pass' or gets to rely on the 'old school tie' any more.

that's not how it even works, you need to be in a school in a terrible postcode, not just any state, and also move before GCSEs are taken otherwise, the GCSEs sitting will show where you have taken them and with which boards ... all very telling 

There are pushy helicopter parents, but places like Oxford can spot this ..
I believe they also are adept at recognising the highly 'coached' students.

No harm in changing school for a better education, but the drive to go to further education, any establishment, has to come from the individual mainly, not that of aspirational parents.
It's tough at Oxford, careful what you wish for!

    

It's also a complete fallacy if you look at the stats. Privately educated pupils only make up 7% of the population but still get around 30% of Cambridge places and 40% of Oxford places. 93% of the population go to State (more at 6th form) but still get a real terms smaller percentage of places than private pupils.Things may be improving in favour of State but the odds still fall in favour of private if you want to play the 'game'. Also there are plenty of other excellent universities!

I find it amusing how some private school parents believe that the Oxbridge admission system is rigged in favour of state schools, and that their poor children are now disadvantaged. It’s not like paying for education automatically entitles them to an Oxbridge place: what universities are trying to do is to remove decades of bias in favour of private schools, so what may be perceived as a disadvantage is actually an attempt at closing a gap that is still too wide.
If a child is bright, they will succeed from any school. Parents may simply realise that, if Oxbridge is their aim, paying for private education may no longer be necessary.
However, if they are so concerned for their children’s welfare (God forbid they mix with all sorts of children!!), they should by all means keep them where they are. The last thing state school families need is other families thinking they are above the rest and feeling they are making a sacrifice for the (wrongly perceived) advantage that they will get from putting a comprehensive school on their UCAS form.
 

I actually read this article in The Times which did resonate as several friend's children have mentioned how hard it has been to get offers from certain unis,

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the- ... -vc29n2nft

Then I saw the Twitter post below referencing the same article which I had to also share, just a little bit funny, "how did she cope?"