ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

Ann Mroz's analysis of the effects of recent government policies (AAB and core-margin places) is correct: they will lead to the cementing of the new English Ivy League's exclusivity, "setting back social mobility in this country for decades to come" ("Depriving the already deprived", Leader, 4 August).

She is incorrect, however, in thinking that these "consequences may well be unintended". Far from being "perverse", they are exactly what a Conservative-led government can be expected to do in ensuring the reproduction of the structures of privilege from one generation to the next. Perpetuating class advantage by steering education admission practices is not the outcome of failing to think through its policies, but rather evidence of it doing its job properly for its core constituency.

Widening participation means adjusting the flow of lower orders into positions so as to make the economy more efficient. It certainly doesn't mean allowing them to threaten the position of the children of the advantaged.

David Webster, Crewe