Oxbridge Poll

Research Study Conducted for The Mail on Sunday

5 June 2000

Education

Research Study Conducted for The Mail on Sunday

MORI interviewed 603 British adults aged 18+
Interviews were conducted by telephone on 2 June 2000
Based on all unless otherwise stated
Data are weighted to the known population profile
An '*' indicates a finding of less than 0.5%, but greater than zero
Poll conducted by MORI on behalf of The Mail on Sunday

Q1 Most people say they belong either to the middle class or to the working class. If you had to make a choice, would you call yourself middle class or working class?

	%
Middle class	35
Working class	58
Don't know	7

Q2 On balance, do you agree or disagree that Britain is now a classless society?

	%
Agree	17
Disagree	76
Don't know/no opinion	7

Q3 Do you have any children? How are old are they?

	%
Under 5	12
Aged 5-10	14
Aged 11-15	11
Aged 16-19	9
Aged 20-29	17
Aged 30+	29
None	35

Q4 And do/does your child/ren attend a state school or private school (that is, a fee-paying school) Base: All who have children aged 0-19 (187)

	%
State school	73
Private school	4
Children at both state and private schools	2
No pre-school age/has left school	21

Q5 Do you believe that educational standards in state schools are higher, lower or about the same as in private schools?

	%
Higher	5
Lower	58
About the same	23
Don't know/no opinion	14

Q6 Do you support or oppose the abolition of private schools?

	%
Support	18
Oppose	62
Don't know	20

Q7 If you could afford it, would you send your child to a private school or not? Base: All who have children aged 0-19 (187)

	%
Yes	57
No	39
Don't know	4

Q8 Why do you think people choose to send their children to private school?

	%
Better standards of education	67
Smaller classes/smaller pupil teacher ratio	16
Status symbol/middle class thing to do	15
Better start to life/better chance for future career	14
Better discipline	7
Better facilities/equipment	6
Individual /personal education/more support from teachers	5
Mix with better people	5
Want the best for my/their child	3
Better results	3
Better qualified teachers	2
Other	2
Don't know	6

Q9 Do you think Gordon Brown was right or wrong to highlight the individual case of the state school pupil, Laura Spence, who was turned down for a place at Oxford University?

	%
Right	44
Wrong	41
Don't know	15

Q10 The Government is considering penalising universities that do not offer enough places to state school pupils. Do you support or oppose this idea?

	%
Support	59
Oppose	33
Don't know	8

Q11 Do you think Gordon Brown's comments will make it more or less likely that state school pupils will want to apply for Oxford or Cambridge Universities, or will it make no difference?

	%
More likely	19
Less likely	9
Make no difference	62
Don't know	10

Q12 I am going to read out two statements. Please tell me which comes nearest to your personal opinion. Oxford and Cambridge should ...

	%
offer places based only on candidates' qualifications	86
offer places based on candidates' qualifications,and taking into account which type of school they come from	10
Don't know	4

Q13 Tony Blair's slogan at the last election was 'Education, Education, Education'. Do you think standards in state schools have improved, stayed the same or got worse since the Labour Government was elected in 1997?

	%
Improved	19
Stayed the same	43
Got worse	18
Don't know	20

Q14 The Government has introduced tuition fees of 1631,000 a year for university students. Do you support or oppose the introduction of this policy?

	%
Support	27
Oppose	66
Don't know	7

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