British warning of toff `brain drain'

Britain will lose some of its most talented students to the US if universities and government policy continue to favour state-school pupils. That warning was issued by the retiring secretary of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference of leading public schools in England, Vivian Anthony.

Anthony, a former chief A-level examiner, was worried about the continuing pre-eminence of Oxford and Cambridge if "social engineering will divert outstanding candidates to other universities, and not only in this country".

Last year, state-school pupil Laura Spence was refused a place at Oxford, leading to criticism of Oxbridge elitism. But Anthony says the balance may be tipping too far in the other direction, with pupils being offered places in order to achieve a social balance rather than due to their academic achievements.

He fears able public-school pupils will follow in Spence's footsteps to Harvard, causing a brain drain: "Selection criteria should be open and known to all applicants."