James Turner explains how Open Access could open up leading independent schools on the basis of merit rather than money in this Guardian blog.

The new Sutton Trust report out today shows, for the first time, the long-term financial rewards a private education can buy. We’ve all suspected that attending an independent school confers certain advantages, but today’s research, which is based on an independent analysis of data by the Social Market Foundation (SMF), is the first time the value of that advantage has been calculated.

The report finds that children who attend private school will earn £194,000 more on average between the ages of 26 and 42 than their state-educated peers. Even when family background and early educational achievement are accounted for, the gap in earnings between someone who went to a private school and a state school counterpart persists at almost £60,000.

Why does this happen? The SMF analysis suggests it is because students from independent schools are more likely to get good A-levels, more likely to get degrees and more likely to attend the most selective universities. Based on the best available evidence – value-added scores from GCSE to A-level – independent schools on average progress their children more during their school years than state schools.

Our earlier research backs this up. A student from an independent school is 55 times more likely to attend Oxbridge than a student on free school meals, for example. And the top professions remain dominated by those who have been schooled in the independent sector, which educates just 7% of young people.

Read the full article here.

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