Children educated at private schools earn £200,000 more than state pupils

Children educated at private schools earn almost £200,000 more by their early forties than pupils who go through the state system, a new study has revealed.

Researchers said they had identified the scale of the private school salary ‘premium’ for the first time.

Even after taking into account the ability and family background of pupils, private school pupils earn ‘substantially more’ – nearly £58,000 by their early forties.

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The report went on to back a scheme proposed by the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, which would involve opening up dozens of top independent schools to pupils of all backgrounds.

Participating private schools would receive the same funding per pupil as local state schools but would also be able to charge fees on a means-tested basis, with the poorest families paying nothing.

Extending the scheme to 100 leading schools would cost £215million, the report concluded.

But the plan has found little favour with the Tory and Labour front benches. Education Secretary Michael Gove has said his focus is on improving state schools.

Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, said private schools should be ‘ladders of opportunity’ rather than ‘bastions of privilege’.

In a foreword to the report, Sir Peter said the ‘stark truth’ was that a day pupil at a private school is 55 times more likely to win a place at Oxford or Cambridge and 22 times more likely to go to a top-ranked university than a state educated child.

‘This is a shocking waste of potential,’ he said.

‘This report clearly sets out the advantages that can be gained from a good private education. We need to open those opportunities to more young people, transforming the independent sector to ensure that successful day schools recruit once again on merit rather than money.

‘Forty years ago, most of the best independent day schools in this country were open to children of all backgrounds. Today, unless your parents can find £12,500 a year after tax, access is by and large denied.’

Backing the report, Conservative MP Dominic Raab said: ‘The evidence is overwhelming that independent schools confer a massive advantage on their pupils.

‘Rather than knocking independent schools down, we should be opening them up on a meritocratic basis. If we’re serious about establishing ladders of opportunity for the bright kid from the council estate or rural backwater, this is the way to do it.’

Read the full report here