London - A girl whose rejection by Oxford University provoked a political row was "outstandingly intelligent . . . but . . . low in confidence", according to leaked notes released yesterday.
The BBC quoted the interview notes as saying that Ms Spence was "an outstandingly intelligent young woman . . . As with other comprehensive school pupils, low in confidence and difficult to draw out of herself despite being able to manifestly think on her feet. Will be an excellent doctor."
The interview notes further stoked the argument following an outburst by the British Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, over the failure of Tyneside teenager Ms Laura Spence to win a place at Oxford to read medicine.