"BREAK, break, break," implores Zeynab, "On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!" The dozen or so inner-city teenagers grouped in the classroom scribble notes as she and a second Muslim girl critique Alfred Tennyson's 1835 elegy to his late friend Arthur Hallam. It is the Easter holiday but these 17-year-olds are in a lecture theatre at the University of Cambridge, attending a voluntary four-day programme that aims to boost their chances of entering higher education.

“飞溅，飞溅，飞溅，”Zeynab吟唱道，“浪花啊，你在冷冷的灰石间蹦碎！”在她与另一位穆斯林女孩评论1835年诗人丁尼生写给他过世的朋友亚瑟-哈勒姆的挽歌的同时，约十位老城区的青少年聚在教室里潦草地记下笔记。这天是复活节假期，但这些17岁的少年正坐在剑桥大学的大讲堂中，参加一个自愿性质的、旨在增加他们接受高等教育机会的为期4天的项目。

Although just 7% of British schoolchildren are privately educated, 41% of British undergraduates at the University of Cambridge come from independent schools. Direct discrimination is not to blame: privately educated pupils do better in exams than their state-educated counterparts. Some 37% of youngsters who gain three "A" grades or higher at A-level, the university-entrance exams sat mostly at the age of 18, attend independent schools, says Geoff Parks of the University of Cambridge. Moreover such pupils are more likely to take the demanding subjects required by the most competitive institutions.

尽管只有7%的英国中小学生接受私立教育，剑桥大学41%的英国本科生来自私立学校。歧视不是直接的原因：私立学校的学生比公立学校的考试成绩要更好。剑桥大学的杰夫-帕克斯称，在大部分考生为18岁的大学入学考试“A-level”中，获得A或更高的青少年中有37%左右就读于私立学校。而且，这些学生更倾向于选择竞争最激烈的学府的高要求课程。

Independently educated pupils are also more likely to apply to selective universities, according to research conducted by the Sutton Trust, a charity that seeks to enhance social mobility through education. And even when state school students do seek entry they tend to be poorly advised. Many go for ultra-competitive subjects such as medicine and law, and neglect to consider Anglo-Saxon poetry as a means to gain entry to an elite institution. Once these factors are accounted for, the University of Cambridge takes almost exactly the expected numbers of state-school students, reckons Mr Parks.

根据萨顿信托（一个寻求通过教育来增强社会流动性的机构）的研究报告，私立学校的学生更倾向于申请门槛高的大学。而且，即使国立学校的学生申请这些大学，他们能获得的指点也非常有限。他们当中许多人竞争过于热门的医学和法律专业，没有考虑申请盎格鲁撒克逊诗歌这类专业作为进入精英学府的手段。帕克斯认为，把以上因素列入考虑，几乎能准确预计剑桥大学招收的国立学生的数量。

Zeynab and her cohort have spent the past three days at Corpus Christi College. Her father was initially reluctant to let her spend nights away from home, she says, but once he understood the opportunity on offer he rescinded. It is a far cry from their usual gritty inner city surroundings: the youngsters dine in the college's new gothic dining hall hung with William Morris plates and portraits of former masters. During the day they learn more about the subjects they are studying at school, as well as top tips on applying for university. Undergraduates who attended the schools in previous years are on hand to offer advice.

Zeynab和她的同伴过去的三年都在科帕斯克里丝蒂学院学习。她说，他父亲一开始不情愿让她晚上离家学习，但当他意识到可能获得的机遇，他便打消了顾虑。这所学校与老城区通常是灰蒙蒙的环境相差甚远：少年们在学院新建的哥特式食堂里就餐，用的是威廉-莫里斯的盘子，墙上挂着前任校长的肖像。白天他们补习学校的科目，还能学到申请大学的好技巧。也可以得到前几届的本科生学长的现场指点。

Zeynab's enthusiasm for her subject is obvious: she and her partner keep interrupting one another with further thoughts about the poem they have read. Sophie Read, an outreach officer in the university's English department teasingly tells them to stop talking about Tennyson. Afterwards they ask her what they could have done to improve their presentation.

Zeynab对于她的专业的热情显而易见：她和她搭档不停地打断对方，分享阅读诗歌的更深感悟。索菲-里德，该学院英语系的外联人员，开玩笑让她们不要再谈论丁尼生了。随后，女孩们向索菲请教应该如何改进她们的介绍陈述。

Encouraging students like Zeynab to go to university is crucial to the coalition government's credibility. In December 2010 Parliament voted to allow English universities to charge up to £9,000 ($14,500)a year in tuition fees, in direct violation of promises made by the Liberal Democrats prior to the general election. From September most English universities will do so. Keen to ensure that such sums do not discourage youngsters from poor families from higher education, the government has coerced colleges into offering scholarships and bursaries. There is precious little evidence to indicate that such schemes are effective. But aspiration-raising Easter and summer schools for disadvantaged children, run in this case in collaboration with Teach First, which aims to improve teaching in poor neighbourhoods, seem to work. Half of those who attend a residential school at Cambridge go on to apply to the university, and a quarter of those who apply get in.

鼓励像Zeynab这样的学生上大学对于联合政府的信誉来说至关重要。2010年12月国会投票允许大学把一年的学费提高到9000英镑（14500美元），直接背离了自由民主党在大选前做出的承诺。从9月份开始大多数英国大学将提高收费。政府急于保证该费用不至于阻碍贫困家庭的青少年接受高等教育，强迫大学提供奖学金和助学金。目前，几乎没有宝贵的证据证明该计划有所成效。但激励弱势学生的复活节和暑期学校与旨在提高贫困社区教育的Teach First组织合作办学（如本文的例子），看来倒是卓有成效。半数参加剑桥大学社区学校的学生将继续申请该大学，并且有四分之一的申请者成功录取。