We’re a curious bunch, us Brits. We boast two of the most revered and envied universities in the world, Oxford and Cambridge, which have educated huge numbers of global leaders, scientists and cultural figures, and produced all sorts of historically significant discoveries, theories and inventions. And yet calling someone “Oxbridge-educated”, in this country, is often seen as some kind of put-down; a way of getting one up against opponents. Take conservative academic and commentator Matthew Goodwin, for instance, author of a new book on a “new elite” of “radical woke” liberals, “often defined by their elite education”. On Monday, Goodwin lashed out at the “left-leaning Oxbridge graduates” who were criticising his book — tweeting a list of critics along with the university they went to next to their names (seven of the nine were educated at Oxford, one at Cambridge and one at LSE), along with the line, “Guys have I touched a nerve? lol”. 

Or actor-turned-outrage merchant and leader of the rightwing Reclaim party Laurence Fox, who tweeted last week: “Don’t vote for career politicians with degrees from Oxford and Cambridge”, suggesting instead that his followers should “vote for people who have experienced things”. Everyday people like Fox, presumably, who was educated at Harrow, one of Britain’s most elite boarding schools, until he was expelled.

Before I continue, I should say that I didn’t go to either private school or Oxbridge (I stayed in London for university so I could pursue an ill-fated career in music). But I can still see that this kind of scoffing is both facile and wrong-headed, and gives off a distinct whiff of jealousy. Why should we scorn those who have managed — whether by hard work, good luck or, as often, a combination of the two — to get into some of the best higher education institutions in the country? Do we really want to turn getting a good education into something that people should feel embarrassed about, or to punish those who attend them?