Britain’s newest university to be dominated by private schools

Britain’s newest university, the New College of the Humanities (NCH), will open its doors this autumn in central London. So far demand has been high for places, with 355 applications having been submitted for the 180 available places; however, it has been revealed that the majority of students accepted to study at NCH are from private schools.

The private university, which promises to deliver the “highest-quality” education to “gifted” undergraduates, has so far made 91 offers, two thirds of which have been given to private school pupils. 22% of offers have been made to state school pupils, 8% have gone to those not coming directly from school and 4% of offer-holders are mature students.

The head of the £18,000-a-year university, Professor AC Grayling, has commented on the concerns raised that NCH will be elitist and dominated by private school students, saying: “Anything that’s high-quality, very demanding, can be described as elite.

“I personally don’t have any difficulty with the word elite. You would like your surgeon or airline pilot taught at an elite institution. Elite doesn’t mean exclusive”.

He also revealed that seven of the students had been awarded scholarships making them exempt from the £18,000-a-year fees and that 37 others had been granted “exhibitions” which allows them to pay £7,200 a year. Meanwhile NCH’s director of external relations, Jane Phelps, raised the issue that the university had faced difficulties with contacting state school students. She said: “We’re very keen to talk to state schools, it’s been extraordinarily difficult to get in, to find the right people to talk to and get an invitation to go.”

Sophie Harrison