THE ruling class continues to dominate the finance industry, new research has confirmed, demonstrating that people from poorer backgrounds are still being locked out of the profession because of their clothes and accent.

Four out of five — 81 per cent — of senior figures in finance think the way candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds present themselves during interviews is preventing them getting a job in the industry, according to research published by the Sutton Trust today.

This was a higher proportion than the number of respondents — 77 per cent — who said that school or university results were affecting the job prospects of applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Today’s survey backs up research from the Social Mobility Commission last year, which found that young people from poorer backgrounds were often locked out of banking jobs because of their clothes, accent, dress and behaviour — described as the “brown shoes” effect.

The Sutton Trust has previously identified a class divide in the banking sector, with 34 per cent of recent recruits and over half of the leaders in the industry having been educated at private schools, compared with just 7 per cent of the general population.

Sutton Trust chairman Sir Peter Lampl said it was “very difficult” for young people from low and middle income backgrounds to land jobs in the finance sector.

Mr Lampl added that the trust was working alongside Deutsche Bank to support job applicants from working-class backgrounds with mentoring and work experience designed to help them to gain access to employment in the finance industry.