17 DECEMBER 1983, Page 31

Charm school

Sir: In the middle of an article defending entrance scholarships — and scholarship at Oxbridge (19 November) John Casey makes a most peculiar point. He states, whilst arguing that interviews are unsatisfactory: 'And if the interviews were conducted as fairly as possible, and not in a spirit of social engineering, who can doubt that charming and articulate public school products are likely to do well.'

Casey, who is a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, ought to let us know what on earth he means by this. What does being 'charming' have to do with scholarship or for that matter with gaining entrance to Cambridge?

Dr Stephen Haseler

Visiting Professor, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA