On merit?

'Filthy. Rich. Spoilt. Rotten.' reads the tag line for 'The Riot Club'. Out this week, the film was inspired by the activities of the Oxford University Bullingdon Club, notorious for its social exclusivity and drunken vandalism.

It is intended as a satire on the club's membersBoris Johnson, the Mayor of London, the Chancellor George Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron were all members of the Bullingdon Club while studying at Oxford. However in recent years they have distanced themselves from it. Johnson has described the club as 'a truly shameful vignette of almost superhuman undergraduate arrogance, toffishness and twittishness.', who have included the current Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Mayor of London, and the persistence of class in modern Britain. But critics have noted that the production itself makes this point. Finding actors to play the film's rich, privileged characters wasn't hard - there's no shortage of young public-school talent out there. And two of those they chose, Freddie Fox and Max Irons, had famous acting fathers too.

Recently actors, including Dame Judi Dench, have argued that it has become increasingly hard for anyone except the children of the rich to break into acting. Many of our current best actors were privately educated, like Damian Lewis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne and Dominic West. That's fine, but where's everyone else? Hefty drama school fees and the expense of living in the early, underpaid days are pricing working-class people out of the profession.

And acting is only the tip of the iceberg of privilege. According to a report published by then Social MobilityA person's ability to move between classes. In 2013, more than 161,000 people took part in the Great British Class Survey, which revealed that there are seven classes in Britain, ranging from the 'elite' down to the 'precarious proletariat.' and Child Poverty Commission last month, three quarters of the senior judiciary, a third of the English rugby and cricket teams and two thirds of the senior armed forces attended fee-paying schools, as did a majority of senior journalists, editors and broadcasters. Yet just 7% of the UK population attend private schools.

Last week, the leader of then TUCThe Trades Union Congress represents the majority of trade unions in the UK., Frances O'Grady criticised an era of 'silver spoons', widening pay gaps and class prejudice; a society similar to that seen in the TV series 'Downton Abbey'. Improving access to higher education, with its qualifications, networks and opportunities, is frequently suggested as a way to counter this rising inequality.

Some say that leading universities must be forced to impose quotas on the numbers of privately educated students in publicly funded higher education. If universities reflect a more balanced and diverse cross-section of society, eventually, so too will the top professions. Only that will break the power of privilege.

Others say this would amount to dangerous social engineering and destroy the reputation of the UK's world-class universities. It would unfairly punish private school students simply for their background. Instead, massive investment and improvement in state schooling is required, combined with serious public commitment from all publicly funded institutions to ensure access for all.