The old school tie network is flourishing, according to a survey which showed graduates from independent schools earn 2.5 per cent more than their state school counterparts.
University of Warwick economists analysed 100,000 students leaving the old universities in 1993.
The wide-ranging survey also revealed state school pupils are 33 per cent more likely to get a first-class degree than independent school counterparts. A report last week from Cardiff University, which used the same raw data, gave a figure of 20 per cent.
The research also showed Oxbridge students went into jobs that paid 8 per cent more than than those taken by graduates from the other universities.