1991: Swapping Class - Comprehensive and Public School Pupils Trade Places | Scene | BBC Archive

"What is the likelihood of both groups of pupils ending up in the same jobs, living in the same streets, and driving the same cars?"

As we approach the end of the 20th century, what defines a person's class in modern Britain? Is it money, or breeding?

To find out, Scene conducts a social experiment - inviting two pupils from a comprehensive school to swap places with two pupils from a public school. They will attend each other's classes, move in with each other's families, to get a sense of how how different or similar their experiences are. All four of these pupils see themselves as middle class. Despite seeing themselves as being in the same social class, 90% of the pupils attending the public school go on to third level education, compared with 20% from the comprehensive school.

After a week, how different will the pupils find each others schools, homes and social lives? Will they still think they are middle class at the end of the experiment?

Clip taken from Scene: Money, Breeding... or What? originally broadcast on BBC Two, 15 March, 1991.

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