I agree with Gerard Kelly that there is a monumental problem when four elite independent schools and one college send more pupils to Oxbridge than the bottom 2,000 state schools (“The odds are stacked against poor, bright kids. But poverty of ambition lurks where it shouldn’t”, 8 July).

As a comprehensive teacher I am saddened by the crass unfairness and stupidity of a system that squanders so much of the nation’s hidden talent.

Nor do I believe that Boris Johnson’s plea (8 July) to teach more Latin or Ancient Greek (excellent subjects though they are) is the panacea for expanding young minds or a sine qua non for increasing social mobility from Uxbridge to Oxbridge.

Stan Labovitch, Secondary teacher, London.