WORKING-CLASS candidates are being “systematically locked out” of jobs in top legal and accountancy companies thanks to “poshness tests,” an official report has found.

Alan Milburn, chairman of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, accused elitist bosses of discriminating against candidates by grilling them during interviews and handpicking employees based on education, accents and parents’ wealth.

A study of 13 elite law, accountancy and financial firms carried out for the commission found that 70 per cent of job offers last year went to graduates with private or grammar school education.

Therefore, mediocre but well-connected candidates are disproportionately over-represented in competitive industries while talented working-class ones miss out.

The former Labour cabinet minister said the findings should be a “wake up and smell the coffee moment” for employers who want to be “genuinely meritocratic.”

He added: “Elite firms seem to require applicants to pass a ‘poshness test’ to gain entry. Inevitably that ends up excluding youngsters who have the right sort of grades and abilities but whose parents do not have the right sort of bank balances.”