“What school did you go to?”
On many occasions, this was the first question asked when I arrived in Edinburgh as a student at the university.
I grew up and lived in Chester until I decided to study at one of the UK’s most prestigious universities.
Growing up in a middle-class family, I never thought I would feel the depths of social exclusion, elitist attitudes and class-based discrimination. I soon realised that this was not the case.
More than 70% of the university’s students are from England. Being from Chester, I am often misconstrued as posh by those north of Manchester. However, to the Barnabys and Poppys of the university, I may as well belong to a lost civilisation.
Finding myself stuck between two worlds, I felt out of place.
Plunged into a microcosm of the most classist parts of England, where perceptions of social status and wealth were covert, and left feeling unsure of where I belonged. What category did I fit into?
I was often excluded from social and academic discussion because I sounded different from the majority and made to feel inferior for having a Northern English accent and .
I felt looked down upon by many students who did not have to work a part-time job in order to make ends meet.
In one of my first classes, the lecturer asked students to introduce themselves. After the entire front row spoke confidently about their exotic gap year travels, family connections and paid internships, I felt an impending sense of dread.
My turn came; I spoke about growing up in the small city of Chester and my excitement to be attending one of the UK’s top universities.
It was hard to ignore the pervasive smirks and sniggers among the English students.
From the moment I introduced myself, heads turned, and gazed upon me with a sea of distasteful looks.
I was overwhelmed by the unfamiliar sensation of social inferiority, feeling as though I was on a different stepping stone towards academic success. My path felt unsteady, like I was balancing on a stone that was too small or too far apart from the rest.
Was I unworthy of sharing the same academic experience?
Feeling out of place, I was anxious to integrate beyond the classroom.
When it came to navigating the social aspects of life at Edinburgh University, I was eager to build connections. I joined the History Society, hoping that meeting like-minded people would be the silent destroyer of the class barricade confronting me – it wasn’t.
The hopes of new friendships faded when the society announced a formal dinner at one of Edinburgh’s most prestigious dining clubs, ticketed at £70.
I explained to a fellow member that this was more than half of my weekly wage from my part-time job.
“Oh, I always forget some people at this university have jobs,” he replied. “£70 isn’t even expensive, though; everyone will be there, and you will feel left out if you don’t go.”
I bought the ticket, and after spending the evening trying to make conversation surrounded by topics that felt alien to me, I overheard two girls mutter, “I’m surprised she’s here… I heard she couldn’t afford it.”
If I could, I would go back in time.
I would tell my eighteen-year-old self, so excited for her time at UoE, that she will feel the overpowering depths of the social divide.
I would say, your are not alone.
That class is the great divider, and all working and middle-class residents of the city share the same struggle.
The social divide in England is imposing itself on Scotland, of all places.
My experience is just one of the many.
Classist discrimination against Scottish students is unfortunately not a new issue.
The Edinburgh Tab, UoE’s student-led tabloid, faced significant backlash in recent months as their mocking comments and derogatory remarks towards Scots raised questions of elitism and snobbery.
Scottish student established the Scottish Social Mobility Society last year, in order to combat the issue.
But the issue is much bigger and affects more than the Scots.
Edinburgh is an array of cultures, social backgrounds and nationalities. This makes the city what it is – a metropolis in the heart of Scotland.
We are all worthy of our place in the city of Edinburgh, and I refuse to reside on the periphery.
