Make College Admissions Anonymous, Say Heads; AFTER BRISTOL FURORE, INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS TRY TO BLOCK 'SOCIAL ENGINEERING'

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INDEPENDENT schools today called for a "blind" system of university admissions, to protect their pupils from so-called social engineering.

Under the proposal, admissions tutors considering applications for university places would not be allowed to know which school the applicant came from.

The plan would make it harder for universities such as Bristol - which some independent school heads say has discriminated against their pupils - to turn down outstandingly qualified teenagers simply because of the school they attended.

But it was also welcomed today by state school heads, who believe talented students from inner-city schools still face prejudice when applying for places at Oxford and Cambridge. A survey conducted …