There are lots of families in my immediate area – most of the children go to the clutch of state schools within a mix of catchment areas. These would not immediately have been the source of a good crop of law students in the making. This is because there are some fine independent schools dotted around, apparently affordable though not in the same league as the top public schools where the prime ministers to be attend, but still a step up. The only thing that really differentiates which school a good student went to is their uniform and a certain confident air coming from one or two in the fee paying sector. The take up of top university places from the small independent schools is still the same, they coach students to take and pass the entry papers as a matter of course and others go on to a career in the military. Every child can now go to whichever university they want, they just need to know how to prepare as early as they can and more students from normal family backgrounds will become the future lawyers and judges we need.
