Alex Crossman, former head of the London Academy of Excellence, on how a state school in Newham out-Oxbridged Eton and St Paul's
“I cannot see why it’s not a legal requirement for all state-funded schools in this country to prioritise the admission of students eligible for free school meals.”
Alex Crossman was, at the time of recording, executive head teacher of the London Academy of Excellence - Stratford, the state sixth form in Newham founded in 2012 by a group of independent schools led by Brighton College and Eton College. This year LAE made headlines by securing 64 Oxbridge offers, more than Eton or St Paul's, earning it the nickname "the Eton of the East End."
Alex's own story mirrors the school's mission: he grew up on a council estate in the West Midlands, knew nobody who had been to university other than his teachers, and went on to Oxford and the LSE before spending 15 years in institutional finance and then retraining as a teacher. In this conversation, Alex reflects on the three experiences that shaped him, dismantles the lazy criticisms levelled at selective sixth forms, and explains why the model that works is one the whole sector could learn from, if only it would listen.
Episode highlights
He reflects on growing up on a West Midlands council estate at a time when results day conversations weren't about which grades you got, but whether you got any at all.
He explains the three things he brought to education from his own life: an understanding of where disadvantaged children are coming from, how elite universities work, and how highly competitive professions operate.
He tackles the criticism that LAE simply selects the best students, revealing that around 40% of his pupils are eligible for free school meals, compared with below 1% at many schools generating similar results.
He argues that if the goal were simply 100% A grades, LAE could achieve it in a year by dropping its free school meals priority, but that would betray the entire reason the school exists.
He describes the culture that actually drives results: teachers recruited for deep subject expertise, staffroom conversations about semiotics and exogalaxies, and full-time counselling for students with often complex and undiagnosed needs.
His controversial opinion: prioritising free school meal pupils should be a legal requirement for every state school, a change that could be made overnight with a simple tweak to the admissions code.