I suppose that Oxford and Cambridge might be a poor example since I went to Warwick, still a top-5 uni (depending on who you ask ;-) and found the people there to be very welcoming to me, as someone also from a London Comp and a working class family. I was treated as an equal, although I was also 2 years older than most others so that gained me some respect.
There is a deeper issue for sure, which is related to the relevance of University education in many sectors. Medical, legal, humanities probably still belong there since there is a large breadth of knowledge as well as many years of precedence to learn.
For engineering, most people would probably be better off learning on the job, perhaps with day release to college. I found my Electrical Engineering degree far inferior to my college-level Engineering training and more suitable for those who plan to enter research rather than most of us who just wanted a good job.
There is a deeper issue for sure, which is related to the relevance of University education in many sectors. Medical, legal, humanities probably still belong there since there is a large breadth of knowledge as well as many years of precedence to learn.
For engineering, most people would probably be better off learning on the job, perhaps with day release to college. I found my Electrical Engineering degree far inferior to my college-level Engineering training and more suitable for those who plan to enter research rather than most of us who just wanted a good job.