CHRIST Church has responded to claims that the college is not accessible to students from disadvantaged backgrounds after comments made by an MP.

In an opinion piece published by the Daily Telegraph, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said she decided not to apply to the college because ‘they corrected her grammar on the phone’ when she called to ask about open days.

She said: "I summoned up my nerve and I telephoned one of the Oxford colleges, Christ Church. ‘Me and a friend would like to come to your open day,’ I started, rather tremulously.

READ MORE: Oxford charity forced to close due to burglary and flooding

“And the admissions lady responded by correcting me: ‘My friend and I,’ she said emphatically.

“Did she not know how difficult it had been to make that phone call? I had nobody else to make that call for me, please try and make me feel like I might be welcome there.

“So anyway I didn’t apply to Christ Church, I applied for New College because they didn’t correct my grammar on the phone.”

The college has defended itself, saying it is committed to building an environment that is inclusive and welcoming to all students and staff, and is increasing access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

A spokesperson for the college said: “Christ Church is fully committed to building an environment that is inclusive and welcoming to all students and staff, as well as to increasing access to the University and the college for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and under-represented groups.

“The college runs sustained contact programmes for state school students to support them with their university and Oxford applications in both its link regions (Aim for Oxford, in the North East of England, and Christ Church Horizons, in Barnet).

“We are delighted that in the most recent UCAS cycle, of the 20 Christ Church Horizons applicants who applied to Oxford, 10 gained offers, including four at Christ Church, joining other state school offer holders from our link regions. We also take part in the University’s flagship access programme, UNIQ.

READ MORE: Oxford City Council condemns plans to reopen Campsfield House

“While we are fully aware that state school students are still under-represented at the college, the proportion of our offer holders who attended UK maintained schools has been increasing and in the latest UCAS cycle Christ Church was among the middle 50 per cent of Oxford colleges in terms of proportion of state-educated offer holders.

“Christ Church’s access and outreach provision in general has increased in previous years and in 2021 we appointed an Access Fellow, whose outreach remit relates specifically to initiatives supporting students from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Groups.

“We also continue our collaborations with Target Oxbridge and Thinking Black, aiming to support Black students with their university and Oxford applications.

“Other Christ Church partnerships that aim to support state school pupils, particularly from backgrounds that are disadvantaged or under-represented at Oxford, include collaborations with DebateMate, The Brilliant Club, and, supporting disadvantaged pupils in Oxford into Higher Education generally, IntoUniversity Oxford South East.”

Read more from this author

This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers. 

Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi