Research shows state school pupils are more likely to get top degrees

The study was based on students who received a first or 2:1 degree at Russell Group institutions and is expected to fuel the debate around whether university applications from state schools should be favoured over those from independent school pupils.

The argument was revived earlier when the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) admitted making an error in their September report which found independent school pupils to do worse at university. However, when students with all levels of prior attainment are included, it was found that independently educated students perform better overall.

The new study examined how effective the A* grade at A-level is as a predictor of university performance. The report concluded by confirming the importance of a grading system with a high degree of differentiation between students.

The research was produced by the Cambridge Assessment, published in the Oxford Review of Education and is being presented at the AEA Europe conference in Glasgow.

Carmen Vidal Rodeiro, co-author of the report, said: “Students from independent schools were less likely to achieve either a first-class degree or at least an upper-second-class degree than students from comprehensive schools with similar prior attainment.”

The researchers suggested two potential reasons behind the finding. The report cited that private school students may have lower incentives to perform well at university and therefore are more likely to invest more effort in social life rather than academic work. Furthermore, privately educated pupils may have been ‘coached’ at school and subsequently struggle when they get to university.

However, Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University gave little light to the significance of the findings.

He said: “The most important thing to understand is that overall, independently educated pupils enter university with better qualifications and do better than state school pupils.

"This new research focuses yet again on a small percentage of students, is less comprehensive and has produced results which are a sideshow and miss the real point.”

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