IT is much harder to be accepted on a train driving course than it is to get into Oxford or Cambridge University.

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin has been swamped with 15,000 applications after it advertised for 78 drivers to pilot the new engines that will soon run up and down the East Coast.

That means there are almost 200 jobseekers vying for each position – a much tougher prospect than bagging a place at Oxford, where about 18,000 applications are received each year for just over 3,000 undergraduate places.

Since the days of steam the prospect of becoming a train driver has been a dream of many but why is there still such a powerful yearning to spend most of the working day sat on your own staring down the tracks?

The job pays a relatively modest salary at trainee level but build up some experience and you’ll soon be taking home in excess of £30,000 plus benefits, such as free rail travel for you and your family.

The appeal of a job with solid pay and prospects is only likely to grow following warnings that things will get even tougher for the lower paid next year as prices continue to rise but pay rates flatline.

Having marketable skills is the key to a person’s earning power, but the Government’s plan to shake-up the education system and introduce more selection in schools risks keeping poorer families in poverty for generations.

New research by the BBC shows that fewer than half of England’s grammar schools make deliberate efforts to admit children from low income backgrounds.

The entry system tends to favour middle class children anyway as parents who can afford it will pay for tuition to boost their child’s chances of getting a place.

If Theresa May is serious about social mobility then she should support a system which works for children whatever their background.

As Richard Branson will tell you we cannot all become train drivers.