Pupils' exam results 'closely linked' to parents' education Prof John Ermisch, one of the report's authors, said: "The educational system is likely to be the most widely used and most acceptable policy tool we have for equalising life chances. Our analysis of England suggests that more equal access to good secondary schools - eg. through lottery allocation - could make a contribution. But as long as there is such a wide variation in school quality, such a policy would be resisted by better-off parents, because some would be forced to send their children to inferior schools. The study analysed exam results - and the outcomes of interviews - for around 16,000 schoolchildren born in 1989 and 1990. It checked pupils' progress at 11, 14 and 16 The study found a "steep gradient" in the achievement of children with well-educated parents during adolescence. This rise "becomes steeper between the end of primary school and part-way through secondary school," it was revealed. "It appears to be related to the sorting of children into secondary schools, with more educated parents sending their children to better quality schools," said the study. Researchers analysed similar data in the US and found that the "parental education gradient when the child is aged around 14 was similar if not steeper than in England." But in Canada and Australia children's achievements in test scores at 15 were "less strongly related to parents" highest education," suggesting these countries were much more socially mobile. The conclusions come just days after Nick Clegg warned that snobbery is being turned into a national "religion" in Britain as millions of children from poor homes are denied good jobs because of class attitudes. The Deputy Prime Minister said a privileged few had a "sense of entitlement."