Industry News
Parental wealth 'impacts on achievement'
Posted on 13th December 2007
Children from affluent homes overtake brighter children from poorer families by the age of seven, a new report has claimed.
Findings released by the Sutton Trust have shown that parental wealth and background can have a huge effect on the academic attainment of children.
It found nearly half of young people from the wealthiest 20 per cent of homes acquired a degree in 2002, compared to just ten per cent of those from the poorest fifth.
"Shamefully, Britain remains stuck at the bottom of the international league tables when it comes to social mobility," argued chairman of the trust Sir Peter Lampl.
Earlier this year, the Sutton Trust published research which revealed more than half of Britain's top journalists had received an independent education, despite private schools accounting for just seven per cent of the country's school population.
It warned that academically gifted children who attended private schools were likely to outperform their state educated peers and earn "considerably more".
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