Zero Gravity and Dr Claire Tyler, ISE Head of Insights and Senior Research Fellow at UCL, share where underrepresented talent falls out in the recruitment funnel, and what fixes can close the opportunity gap to improve social mobility.
Recent research from UCL , funded by the Nuffield Foundation and co-authored with Professor Lindsey Macmillan and Dr Catherine Dilnot, shows that working-class graduates are 32% less likely to get a job offer than those from professional backgrounds, even when CVs look identical.
Class gaps in graduate hiring are also growing as competition for entry level roles intensifies. During National Inclusion Week, this is a stark reminder that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.
Zero Gravity is the UK’s largest community of socially mobile students, working with leading employers across the country to attract and convert this pool of currently untapped talent. They have teamed up with UCL to turn their research into an actionable 7-step guide for hiring teams to improve social mobility in early career recruitment processes.
Key findings
- Low socio-economic background (SEB) graduates are 32% less likely to get a job offer than applicants from professional backgrounds, with half of that gap appearing at the online sift and test stage and the other half at face-to-face assessments.
Figure 1: Class representation in the graduate recruitment funnel
- When comparing applicants with similar attributes (university attended and subject studied), working class graduates are still 18% less likely to receive an offer than professional background applicants.
- Privately educated applicants were 20% more likely to receive an offer than similar state school applicants in 2024, up from 7% in 2023.
- Employer decisions, not candidate withdrawals, drive the inequality: withdrawal rates are relatively flat across SEB, gender and ethnicity.
- Timing matters: low-SEB candidates tend to apply later, and later applications convert at lower rates, driving a significant share of the class gap.
- Black applicants are 45% less likely to get offers than white applicants, and 33% less likely when compared like-for-like with white students, with the online test phase being where ethnicity inequalities are highest.
7 evidence-based actions to boost social mobility
These research findings represent an opportunity for early-careers teams to make small changes to their processes and uncover hidden talent.
1. Capture SEB on every application
Firms that captured SEB uncovered a 32% offer gap invisible in standard EDI dashboards.
- Add three questions recommended by the Social Mobility Commission: ‘Main earner’s job at 14’, ‘School type 11-16’, ‘Free-school-meal status’
- Make them compulsory with ‘prefer not to say’ as the only skip option so completeness hits 95%.
2. Use strengths-based online testing
Employers who used strengths-based online tests had diverse talent represented throughout each stage, particularly final assessment centres.
- Pilot strengths-based testing on one role.
- Place the test before any academic screen and ask recent hires from LSEB backgrounds to provide feedback on language clarity.
- Run a live Q&A on the Zero Gravity platform so candidates who lack insider tips understand the format.
3. Nudge early applications
Informing university careers teams that earlier applications have higher chances of success could enable them to intervene earlier with underrepresented groups.
- Launch a two-week ‘priority review’ window, with a decision in 10 days for applicants who apply.
- Push reminders to LSEB students when roles open via digital communities.
- Publish an infographic on your careers page showing that late applications under-perform.
4. Expand outreach to state educated students for internships
Internships & spring weeks convert at high rates to graduate roles, but applications often open when underrepresented students are still adjusting to university.
- Convert an existing insight day into a remote, paid work experience day, removing distance barriers.
- Offer bursaries for in-person spring weeks and advertise it in the first line of the job ad.
5. Score for potential, not polish, at assessment centres
Low SEB candidates are likely to be less experienced in face-to-face recruitment. Don’t penalise underrepresented applicants for skills that can be learned post onboarding.
- Add a five minute ‘thinking time’ before group tasks so quieter candidates can prepare.
- Replace ‘presentation style’ with behavioural anchors for grit, problem-solving and teamwork.
6. Look for potential beyond the Russell Group
70% of offers go to Russell Group graduates, but the pool of LSEB students is smaller. It is possible to target RG LSEB students, but consider high-potential non-RG students too.
- Remove university names from CVs at the long-list stage; rely on grades and modules.
- Offer an open-access technical challenge; fast-track anyone in the top quartile regardless of institution.
- Run virtual masterclasses offering tangible value to pull in non-RG talent.
7. As competition increases, monitor the impact on underrepresented groups
Inequalities increase as competition for places increases, pay particular attention to these metrics in competitive recruitment cycles.
- Create a real-time social mobility dashboard showing stage-by-stage conversion.
- Set ATS alerts when LSEB proportion falls below stage benchmarks.
- Consider tools to broadcast new roles to underrepresented groups.