As the master of Trinity Hall, I am sorry for the distress and anger caused by some of the words used in the internal memo referred to in your article (Cambridge college to target elite private schools for student recruitment, 7 January). It has been the cause for much reflection in the college.
But I must set the record straight. Trinity Hall has not changed its admissions policy nor its commitment to widening participation. We do not confuse opportunity with ability (Letters, 12 January) and our admissions team is skilled at assessing academic potential in the context of background and schooling. We know from experience that our top-performing students come from every part of the country, every school type and every background.
The data backs this up: 73% of our domestic undergraduates on average in the past three years are from state schools (up from 61% 10 years ago) and more than 20% are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The action referred to in your articles applies to a small number of humanities subjects where applications are dropping across higher education, in part because pupils have less access to study relevant A-levels in state schools.
We propose adding a small number of independent schools to a mailing list of more than a thousand state schools to advertise our outreach work, online Q&A sessions and informative podcasts about these subjects.
We understand why language used in the memo has caused upset, but it does not reflect our continuing commitment to offering places to students with the potential to thrive. We are proud to support opportunity across the nation and our commitment to that, and our students, has not changed.
Mary Hockaday
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
