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In the UK there is definitely a perception that the Civil Service is the preserve of privileged Oxbridge graduates, possibly even only those who came from public schools (Eton, Winchester, etc). It is debatable how true this perception is in the modern day, but certainly it was felt strongly enough in the past to be satirised in television (most prominently in, say, Yes Minister and its sequel).

There is the definite feeling that the Civil Service is or was a sort of old boys' club, where those with connections would head to after finishing their classics degrees at Oxbridge. Attending Oxford in the 2010s, the idea of the Civil Service being a natural next destination was certainly still prevalent.

I contrast this to the equivalent in the US: as far as I can tell there is no association between the US CS and, say, the Ivy League. The perception in the US seems to be the polar opposite, with almost a sense of disdain by Ivy League graduates of the idea of working as a bureaucrat as opposed to entering the corporate world.

What were the historic factors that led to this perception in the UK, and to what degree was it ever true?

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    Documenting preliminary research will improve both the probability of an answer and the quality of the answer(s)
    – MCW ♦
    Commented yesterday
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    A very quick google search revealed this "Whitehall - the generic term for the civil service - was to be opened up to the meritorious products of the finest British universities, “a non-political administrative class educated in the moral values of a liberal education further developed by a reformed Oxford and Cambridge”.3 Although there was immense contemporary controversy the plans of the report were eventually put into effect. In 1855 a Civil Service Commission was appointed" From here: civilservant.org.uk/library/1997_evolution_1848-1997.pdf
    – canonacer
    Commented yesterday
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    @Nethesis. Glad it helped. I used he search term "civil service uk oxbridge historically" if that helps.
    – canonacer
    Commented yesterday
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    There are several different trends combined here: the introduction of meritocratic selection to the Civil Service starting with the Northcote–Trevelyan reforms of the mid 19th century, the establishment of other universities in England in various waves also starting from the mid-19th century but much larger now, meritocratic selection to Oxbridge at the start of the 20th century, the professionalisation of the senior Civil Service from the 1960s, and the relative decline of Civil Service pay and status from the 1970s and 1980s onwards.
    – Henry
    Commented 10 hours ago
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    In 2024, of the 986 individuals recommended for "Fast Stream" appointments in the Civil Service, 136 (14%) went to Oxbridge. So if there was any association in the past, it is much smaller now.
    – Henry
    Commented 10 hours ago

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Because up until the late 20th Century Oxford and Cambridge were considered without question the pre-eminent universities in the UK; at least by the establishment. Before WW2 it would have been axiomatic that if you were one of the best minds in the country you went to either Oxford or Cambridge. There might be maverick intellectuals who acquired that status without attending there; and lesser universities might be suitable training for "lesser" careers like engineering or business, but the civil service was not interested in recruiting mavericks - it wanted steady but highly competent people. In the opinion of the establishment they were found at Oxford and Cambridge. And a civil service career was considered prestigious enough that the service could afford to recruit only from the best.

This would of course be self-seving. If the people at the top of the civil service themselves all went to Oxbridge, it would be natural for them to perpetuate the view that the best people came from there. A certain amount of snobbishness was also likely involved. And of course knowing this those people who wanted a top level civil service career would gravitate to Oxford and Cambridge.

This view changed gradually. In the 60s and 70s it would begin to be admitted that someone could be a competent civil servant having attended some other reputable University. And eventually such people reached the top ranks of the civil service.

An indication of the attitude can be found in a passage from the John le Carre novel "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". One of the characters is referred to as "The first senior officer [of MI6] from a redbrick university". "Redbrick" was the term for the English universities built in the 19th century - the oldest ones apart from Oxford and Cambridge.

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    "Redbrick" was the term for the British universities built in the 19th century - the oldest ones apart from Oxford and Cambridge. Perhaps you meant English rather than British? Note that the Scottish Universities of St. Andrews, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh all date back to the 15th or 16th centuries.
    – Lars Bosteen
    Commented 11 hours ago
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    Thank you. Well spotted.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented 6 hours ago
  • IIRC in Tinker Tailor, Roy Bland is said to have gone to (the fictional) St Antony's College, Oxford. Smiley offers this information as proof that Bland is not redbrick. But his snobbish interlocutor responds that St Antony's is redbrick, compared to other Oxford colleges.
    – alexg
    Commented 44 mins ago

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