Working-class youngsters have lower IQs than their middle-class counterparts

Dr Bruce Charlton said the domination of middle-class students at elite universities is a "natural outcome" of IQ differences between social groups. The evolutionary psychiatrist defended leading institutions from accusations by ministers of bias in admissions. Dr Charlton, of Newcastle University, said: "The Government has spent a great deal of time and effort in asserting that universities, especially Oxford and Cambridge, are unfairly excluding people from low social-class backgrounds and privileging those from higher social classes. "Evidence to support the allegation of systematic unfairness has never been presented. Nevertheless, the accusation has been used to fuel a populist 'class-war' agenda. Yet a vital fact has been missed: Higher social classes have a significantly higher average IQ than lower classes. The unequal class distributions seen in elite universities compared with the general population are unlikely to be due to prejudice or corruption. The observed pattern is a natural outcome of meritocracy."