Fifty percent of permanent secretaries and 52% of special advisers were educated in London and the South East, according to a new report by a social mobility charity.
The Sutton Trust found that 23% of all senior civil servants, diplomats and public body chief executives attended private schools in these regions.
The study, which excludes those educated abroad, flags that northern regions are particularly underrepresented among top civil service roles, with just 17% of perm secs educated in the whole north of England.
The Sutton Trust said the results are “completely unbalanced and unrepresentative” of the country, where only 28% of the UK’s population is educated in London and the South East and less than 3% is educated privately in these regions.
This means that someone attending a private school in London and the South East is 24 times more likely to become a perm sec than someone attending a state school in the north of England, according to the study.
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Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust, said: “We talk about the Westminster bubble. These figures suggest it’s not just a political bubble, but a geographical one too. Talent is spread right across the country, but the pathway into Britain’s most powerful public roles clearly isn’t.”
The Sutton Trust is calling on the public sector and employers with over 250 staff to report on the socio-economic background of their workforce to close access and progression gaps.
It also encourages reporting on class pay gaps and considering candidates' educational achievements in the context of disadvantage during recruitment to widen the talent pool for public roles
Harrison added: "This is not just about fairness. Public institutions are stronger when they reflect the experiences and perspectives of the people they serve. If we want to rebuild trust in those institutions and make better decisions, we need to widen access to the most senior roles, remove barriers to progression, and ensure opportunity isn't determined by your postcode or your parents' income. Perhaps No.10 North can be the start of changing this."
Andy Burnham’s No.10 North proposals aim to move part of the prime minister’s office to Manchester once he becomes PM. He stressed that the office would have UK-wide reach, despite its name.
“No.10 North will be the nerve centre of a rewired Britain,” he said in a speech at the People’s History Museum in Manchester last month. “It will be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources through the UK.”