State pupils gain more firsts

A separate studyby the Warwick researchers strengthens the claim thatstudents from state schools are more likely to get a first than those from independent schools, all other things being equal, as first reported in The THES last week.

The Warwick study compared students of the same age and sex at the same universities in the same year and found that students from independent schools are 33 per cent less likely to get a first. The study reported last week from Cardiff Business School compared similar students from the same sort of universities and found those from independent schools 20 per cent less likely to get a first. Likewise students from independent schools are 33 per cent less likely to get an upper second than state school students, all other things being equal.

If admissions tutors were to take this finding into account whenoffering places, they could offer an A and two Bs at A level to independent school pupils and two Bs and a C to state school pupils and, all other things being equal, they would achieve the same class of degree, according to Dr Naylor.