Going to private school makes you likely to earn more money than your state-schooled university peers, even in the same job with the same degree, a study has found.
Research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has shown that privately educated graduates are likely to earn around 7% more on average than a state-schooled peer with the same degree.
The research was collated from surveying 75,000 British graduates who completed their courses in 2007. The gap in salaries was seen within months of graduation, with the average gap in salaries after three and a half years being as much as £4,500.
Interestingly, there was a more significant gap between males than females, with privately-educated males earning an average of 20% more than their state-schooled peers.
The study was conducted by the IFS, along with Dr Claire Crawford, a Warwick University economist, and Professor Anna Vignoles of Cambridge, a research fellow of the IFS. Speaking about the study, they said that schooling is likely to not be the only factor, with other factors including 'ability, social skills and determination'.
They continued: "Of course an alternative explanation is that private schooling provides access to social and cultural capital (e.g. networks) which are helpful to individuals in securing well paid jobs."
Dr Crawford added: "Education is often regarded as a route to social mobility. But our research shows that, even amongst those who succeed in obtaining a degree, family background - and in particular the type of school they went to - continues to influence their success in the work place.
"These results suggest that there is a pressing need to understand why private schooling confers such an advantage in the labour market...and why higher education does not appear to be the leveler it was hoped to be."