Mutually assured admission
From Stuart Mott Sir: Charles Spencer's article on 1970s public school life (Arts, 19 July) beautifully described the era and greatly reminded me of a similar situation at my own school, Felsted. I cannot recall whether our 'drugs bust' ever reached the press, but I do vividly remember the witch-hunt that culminated in a few expulsions.
It seemed to me, at the time, that there was a sort of unofficial transfer system among public schools aimed at assisting the unfortunates who were expelled for drugs-related offences. My theory was that there were some schools which would be prepared to offer a place to another school's expelled pupil in return for a promise of reciprocation. In this way, the expelling school kept its conscience clear without compromising its integrity, while offering an opportunity to the receiving school to do likewise should it ever be necessary in the future.
Certainly all of my expelled contemporaries found alternative schooling, allegedly aided by glowing testimonials from the headmaster who had dismissed them. I have never discovered whether there was any element of truth behind my theory, and would imagine that the existence of such a system would be hotly denied by any self-respecting headmaster anyway.
Stuart Mott
Cambridge
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