The legal world emerges badly from the findings of government research into social mobility published today. According to the Phase 1 report of the Cabinet Office’s Fair Access Panel, solicitors and barristers were far more likely than the population at large to have been privately schooled.

Law firms also far outstripped other professional employers in requiring internees and work-experience students to be based in London – a barrier to many applicants from less well-off backgrounds.

Reflecting previous research, the report says that professionals born in 1970 were far more likely to come from the professional classes than those born in 1958. It notes that 75% of judges attended independent schools, compared with 70% of finance directors, 45% of top civil servants, 32% of MPs and 7% of the population as a whole. However, it concedes that the figure for judges reflects trends when present incumbents entered the profession, rather than now.

The analysis is based on formal evidence hearings, youth forums and a national call for evidence which received more than 120 formal submissions. A Phase 2 report will be published next month, the Cabinet Office said.