25 JANUARY 2003, Page 27

Brains are classless

From The Revd Canon Geoffrey Ravalde Sir: Paul Johnson (And another thing, 18 January) scores so many valid direct hits that it is a shame he spoils it by implying that Oxford is forced to take ignorant louts and couch potatoes from sink schools, and for that reason rejects clever people from leading public schools. If this were true, they would be going about it in a most peculiar way.

Whereas about 8 per cent of our pupils nationally attend independent schools and about 92 per cent go to maintained ones, in 2000 Oxford accepted nearly as many candidates (1,388) from the tiny independent sector as from the huge maintained one (1,575).

As chairman of governors of a good comprehensive school with a below-average ability intake and a respectable 'Oxbridge' record, I can safely say that any louts, airheads, dullards and couch potatoes we have available are not accepted by Oxford or Cambridge, nor indeed by a great many other institutions, though (like leading public schools) we are able to point to outstanding people we would like to have been accepted but were not. The truth is that three very clever people apply for every place, and you don't even need to be as clever as they are to work out that thousands of very clever people will be disappointed.

So I think that Paul Johnson will have to work hard to find the comprehensive thickies at Oxford. It is more rewarding to look for what is excellent wherever it may be found. With luck this should include some people from lousy schools in dreadful areas.

Geoffrey Ravalde

Wigton, Cumbria