Britain’s Most Powerful ‘More Likely To Have Been Privately Educated

Researchers also found that across various public bodies there is a majority of private school alumni. They make up 65% of senior judges, 59% of civil servant permanent secretaries, 57% of the House of Lords, and 52% of Foreign and Commonwealth Office diplomats.

The media also has some of the highest numbers of the privately educated. Of the 100 most influential news editors and broadcasters, 43% went to fee-paying schools, and 44% of newspaper columnists were privately educated.

Among the wealthiest members of the TV, film and music industries, there are substantial numbers of independent school attendees, at 38%, the research suggests.

The Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility Commission make a number of recommendations in the report to ensure the talents of people from all backgrounds are made use of.

These include tackling financial barriers to specific industries and professions, especially by paying internships of significant length, and adopting contextual recruitment and admissions practices.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder and executive chairman of the Sutton Trust, said Britain is an increasingly divided society.

He said: “Divided by politics, by class, by geography. Social mobility, the potential for those to achieve success regardless of their background, remains low. ”

“The key to improving social mobility at the top is to tackle financial barriers, adopt contextual recruitment and admissions practices and tackle social segregation in schools.

“In addition, we should open up independent day schools to all pupils based on merit not money as demonstrated by our successful Open Access scheme.”

Dr Luke Heselwood, from think tank Reform, said these “scandalous figures show that the UK is far from being a meritocracy”.

He said fixing the problem would require serious reform to the education system, adding that despite improvements, the most advantaged are nearly 10 times more likely to attend elite universities than the most disadvantaged.

“If candidates vying to become prime minister are serious about giving equal opportunity to all, they must focus on raising the attainment of disadvantaged school pupils so they can apply to elite universities,” he said.

“Top universities must also embrace contextualised admissions and offer more support to students to help them to succeed,” he added.