New universities in England and Scotland are drivers of social mobility, according to research from the Million+ organisation.

The research tracked the social backgrounds of students and their occupations after leaving university.

It found that 8% of entrants in these universities were from professional families – but that three years after graduating 17% had professional jobs.

Million+ chair, Les Ebdon, says it proves the “pessimists wrong”.

Professor Ebdon argued that there was widespread political support for promoting social mobility – but this needed to be matched by funding.