Nearly half of all lawyers recently promoted to the partnerships of the Magic Circle law firms were educated at Oxbridge, according to analysis that highlights the dominance of the two universities – even at the most junior end of the lockstep.

At Slaughter and May, only two of the new partners did not attend either university, while five others – 71% - attended Oxford University or Cambridge University. Previous research by Legal Week found that two-thirds of the entire Slaughters partnership were educated at the same two institutions. 

Across Allen & Overy, Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughters, 21 out of 48 – or 45% – newly-promoted U.K. partners hailed from the either Oxford or Cambridge.

Nationwide, about 2% of the U.K.'s current university population attend Oxbridge. 

Both Linklaters and Clifford Chance had significantly lower uptake of Oxbridge-educated partners compared with the other three firms: four of Linklaters' 14 additions and two of Clifford Chance's eight new partners went to the one of the institutions.

However, half of the new partners appointed at Allen & Overy and nearly two-thirds of the new partners at Freshfields were Oxbridge-educated, with both figures higher than the overall partnership average.

Commenting on the numbers, Dr Wanda Wyporska, executive director at Equality Trust, said: "Yet again we see the Oxbridge graduates dominate the new partners appointed, reinforcing the stereotype of an elite and elitist profession. It does the profession little good to underestimate the importance of and indeed business case for wider participation within its ranks and the promotion of a diverse range of people. There are problems at all levels of the legal profession in terms of diverse representation, which surely ought to be examined in far more detail."

None of the firms provided comment in time for publication.

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