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You have to compare like with like before any suggestion of direct discrimination arises. My recollection of the general statistics is the majority of lawyers and barristers are privately schooled, who then then get better grades. Top law firms have always preferred to recruit from the traditional universities. Glancing at the research, it says on pg 7:
"contextual hurdles that are difficult for many candidates to overcome:
• Lower school level grades
• Attending a university not ranked in the highest band of league tables
• A lack of access to or inability to take unpaid work experience
• A lack of strong networks within the profession
• The use of proxies by chambers during recruitment to denote excellence and desirable attributes, such as public school background, or attendance at an ‘elite’18 university."
Most people recognise the root cause is in schooling and money gives advantage. The real question is how far should law firms and chambers go to compensate for these realities. In my case, due to choosing the wrong A levels and attending a poor Sixth Form, I got very average A levels, but the law faculty (top 20 University) saw potential. Correctly as I got a first.