We have a strong commitment to equality of opportunity with regard to broad socio-economic representation in the music industry. According to a 2017 study by the Sutton Trust, privately educated people are significantly over-represented in the music industry, as well as the entertainment industry generally. One way we think we can help tackle that issue is in how we recruit. We ask anyone applying for a role at Ostereo to leave out details of where they went to school or university. This helps us remove any unconscious bias from our own recruitment process and hopefully also encourages people who weren’t educated privately to apply with the same level of confidence as those that were. If invited to interview, candidates are of course free to talk about their education in as much detail as they feel comfortable, including where they studied. However, at interview stage, we’re far more likely to be interested in a candidate’s passions and interests than we are in their academic background. We are by no means anti-private education. But we understand that people from state school backgrounds may feel more confident in applying when they know they’ll only be considered on the basis of their own achievements and not on the basis of where they were educated. It’s a small step but we hope it’s a positive one.