Thank you MrsShackleton - I've been lurking on this thread and you've hit the nail on the head - i.e. if you are clever, driven and come from a nurturing environment, then you will succeed.
The only thing I would add, is that perhaps you also need to have parents, or someone else around you, who can help you along the way.
I'm from a working class background, passed the 11-plus and am now in the too 10% earning bracket. My parents had few qualifications, but were aspirational (although not hugely nurturing but that's a different story).
My drive came from wanting to prove myself and make a different life for my own family - and I've done that without a private education - I found out years later my parents were offered the chance for me to try for a scholarship but turned it down because they didn't think I'd be happy.
This from a child who devoured all the Malory Towers books and would've loved to go!
My dds go to state school. We could've gone private, but would prefer a couple of holidays a year instead and I reckon I can make up for any deficiencies by keeping a close eye on what goes on and paying for tutoring if needed. Also, we wanted them to have Welsh-medium education and that isn't available privately.
Through my job I've come across complete no-hopers from both backgrounds - a "good" school doesn't mean you can relate to people and actually carry out what's needed. And a second-rate state education doesn't help, but in fact we recruit via our own assessments and don't set too much store by qualifications.
And I'm horrified by Xenia's fixation that the right accent is essential - an educated accent maybe - but I'd like to know of examples of people who've been turned down for employment on the basis of accent - maybe I'm being naive?