Four out of the last five education secretaries went to the same university (answers on a postcard please). The shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, took a different route to adult life. Removing automatic academic requirements for civil service jobs is a sound proposal which sends an inclusive signal. Civil service recruits are drawn from a too-narrow segment of society, with senior grades markedly less ethnically mixed than junior ones. To welcome Labour’s move to relax civil service entry requirements is not to say that higher education isn’t important.

Source: The Guardian November 25, 2018 18:22 UTC