Top Jobs Still Dominated by Former Oxbridge Students

The Sutton Trust and Social Mobility Commission has found that top professions in the UK are still dominated by those who attended private schools and Oxford and Cambridge universities.

The trust analysed the backgrounds of 5,000 people in top jobs and found that these roles were five times more likely to be filled by those who had been privately educated compared to the average population.

Whilst the analysis did not name individuals it concluded that "power rests with a narrow section of the population - the 7% who attend private schools and the 1% who graduate from Oxford and Cambridge."

Whilst some may not be surprised to see top jobs of the judiciary, diplomatic service and armed forces staffed by a comparatively larger number of former public-school pupils, it is somewhat surprising to see creative industries with a relatively high proportion too.

This reflects warnings that creative industries are increasingly becoming populated by the offspring of the wealthy and well connected.

Commenting on the results, the head teachers' leader Geoff Barton said: "State schools work tirelessly to make social justice a reality but the dice are loaded against them in a society where both privilege and disadvantage are perpetuated from one generation to the next."

"The old boys' network and the old school tie still hold back talented and hard-working people from less privileged backgrounds."