Lucy Powell says she left Oxford feeling out of place as a state-school student
Lucy Powell left Oxford after a year, saying she felt out of place as a state-school student from the North. Her experience is relevant to her role as Education Secretary and her comments on education, where she has described meeting academy heads as a “family gathering”.
Powell, 52, grew up in Didsbury and attended local state schools before studying maths and sciences at Xaverian College. She said she was the only student in her 2,000-strong sixth form to win an Oxford place, but classmates disputed this; her spokesman said she was happy to be corrected. She went to Somerville College to study chemistry, then transferred to King’s College London after a year.
- Powell left Oxford after one year.
- She said she felt out of place there.
- Several relatives were school leaders.
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Lucy Powell is a Labour politician who grew up in Didsbury, Manchester, and attended state schools before studying at Xaverian College. She went to Somerville College, Oxford, to study chemistry, then moved to King’s College London after a year.
Powell is now Education Secretary, the minister responsible for England’s education system. Her time at Oxford is part of the background to her comments about education and her meetings with academy heads, schools that are publicly funded but independently run.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Lucy Powell famously dropped out of Oxford ‘because it was too elitist’”.