Are state students disadvantaged at Warwick?

It was recently announced that 77.1% of Warwick students were state-educated which is not a terrible figure when compared to the 55.7% in Oxford. However perhaps it is shameful in the face of 88.8% at Liverpool for example.

Despite coming from a very modest background where my house didn’t even have broadband until I was 14, I haven’t felt massively unwelcome at Warwick. Although I have never been able to forget my background since starting.

My primary school consisted of a few slapdash buildings in the heart of a council estate in a town barely anybody has heard of. My secondary school was good for a state school but was still situated in a mostly unknown town.

I have never been able to forget my background since starting

Most people in my town live their whole lives in the same area. From my year group in Fairstead Community Primary School, about five people went to university in total, and I was the only person to get into a Russell Group. This is the unadulterated truth of the opportunities afforded those from poor backgrounds.

One of the most defining moments of my marginalisation and the broader under-representation of people like me was in the Costa queue one morning. Two girls were talking about their parents; one of the girls’ parents was an Ambassador. I chuckled to myself because my parents are a Sainsbury’s cashier and a forklift driver who don’t even know what UCAS is.

This is the unadulterated truth of the opportunities afforded those from poor backgrounds

It’s hard to get ahead and experience when you have limited funds. I may have earned a place at a Russell Group university despite coming from a modest state school but this was a fluke and does not represent the opportunities offered to others from poorer backgrounds.

I have applied to scholarship programmes for low-income students and not been given the place and then later finding out that those who were awarded the prizes had contacts or somehow had a better education than their household income implies.

It’s hard to get ahead and experience when you have limited funds

I have also been reminded of my background in the accommodation at Warwick. Rootes was at the maximum end of my budget and I thought that other Rootes residents would have a history of state schools and council estates like me. Granted, many actually are from state schools but I feel this still doesn’t equate to equal opportunities.

There are even less Rootes students from council estates. In fact, there are quite a few students from wealthier backgrounds who are in Rootes because their parents are paying for their accommodation outright whereas I am finding myself with a loan of around £50,000 for a three-year degree because my parents struggle to live comfortably.

I have also been reminded of my background in the accommodation at Warwick

Academically I do not feel any less intelligent than other students on my course. I work just as hard as anybody else and Warwick assess me accordingly. I am able to enjoy university without financial worries as Warwick support me with a generous bursary for which I am extremely grateful. I know I am in the minority here but I won’t let that deter me.

Whilst socially I feel at a disadvantage and am anxious that this may affect my professional opportunities, I am not concerned with my academic performance despite my state school background. The staff are grounded and are not fussed with background. They simply wish to discuss subjects in which they are passionate. I don’t forget my upbringing. I see it as another perspective I can offer to many aspects of university life.