Despite growing efforts by corporations to improve diversity and inclusion in recruitment, a new report by The Sutton Trust reveals that Britain’s most powerful jobs remain overwhelmingly in the hands of private school alumni.
The study, one of the most comprehensive analyses of social mobility in the UK, highlights how deep-rooted educational privilege continues to shape access to politics, business, media, and law.
Efforts to Improve Social Mobility
In recent years, many companies have adopted new practices to reduce barriers for candidates from working-class backgrounds. These initiatives include:
- Expanding apprenticeship programs that do not require university degrees.
- Shifting recruitment focus from national exam results to relative performance compared to peers at the same school.
- Collecting more data to track how many senior leaders come from non-elite backgrounds.
While these steps have brought some progress, the Sutton Trust report concludes that change has been slow and uneven, with private schooling still offering the clearest pathway to influence.
Private School Advantage in British Society
According to the findings, the UK’s elite institutions—many with centuries of tradition—continue to deliver disproportionate access to the top.
Graduates of private schools hold an outsized share of leadership roles in:
- Politics, with many MPs and cabinet ministers educated at fee-paying schools.
- Law, where judges and senior barristers are heavily drawn from elite universities fed by private schools.
- Media, where editors and broadcasters often come from privileged educational backgrounds.
- Corporate leadership, where private schooling remains a strong predictor of advancement.
This dominance, the report argues, reflects a persistent class divide in Britain’s labor market.
Why Apprenticeships and Degree-Free Routes Aren’t Enough
One of the key findings is that new pathways, such as degree-free apprenticeships, have not yet been able to match the networks, resources, and cultural capital offered by elite schools.
Even when firms adopt measures to level the playing field—such as comparing students’ exam results relative to their school average—private school candidates retain advantages through mentoring, extracurriculars, and strong alumni connections.
The Sutton Trust warns that unless these gaps are addressed, socioeconomic mobility will remain restricted to small pockets of opportunity rather than systemic change.
A Reflection of Britain’s Wider Inequality
The persistence of private school dominance is more than an education issue—it reflects broader patterns of wealth inequality and social class entrenchment in the UK.
While only around 7% of British children attend private schools, their graduates account for a disproportionate share of elite professions.
This means that despite widespread corporate commitments to equal opportunity, Britain’s top ranks remain deeply unrepresentative of the population as a whole.
Sutton Trust’s Call for Broader Reform
The Sutton Trust argues that companies and policymakers must go beyond symbolic initiatives. Suggested reforms include:
- Stronger targets and transparency in corporate reporting on social mobility.
- Greater investment in state school resources to close the opportunity gap.
- Expanding and elevating apprenticeships as a respected alternative to university.
- Building mentorship pipelines that connect working-class students to professional networks.
These steps, the charity insists, are necessary if the UK wants to achieve a truly meritocratic system.
The Bottom Line
The Sutton Trust’s 2025 social mobility report paints a stark picture: elite schools still dominate access to power in Britain, despite corporate diversity pledges and recruitment reforms.
While progress is visible in some areas, the gap between private and state school opportunities remains vast. Unless structural reforms take root, Britain risks continuing a cycle where background, not ability, dictates opportunity.
FAQs – Social Mobility in the UK
Q1: What did the Sutton Trust report reveal about private schools?
The report found that despite efforts to widen access, private school alumni continue to dominate top professions in politics, business, law, and media.
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Q2: How are companies trying to improve social mobility?
Many firms have introduced apprenticeships, degree-free hiring, and relative performance evaluations, along with collecting data on class backgrounds.
Q3: Why do private school graduates still have an advantage?
They benefit from networks, cultural capital, extracurricular opportunities, and alumni support that often outweigh corporate reforms.
Q4: How many children in the UK attend private schools?
Only about 7% of children attend private schools, yet their graduates hold a disproportionate share of top jobs.
Q5: What solutions has the Sutton Trust suggested?
The charity recommends greater transparency, stronger state school support, elevated apprenticeships, and structured mentorship programs to level the playing field.
