The Social Origins and Education of the British Civil Service Elite<scp>, 1945–2022</scp>

ABSTRACT We provide a fuller account than previously available of the extent of change in the social backgrounds of the British civil service elite from 1945 onwards. We consider our findings in relation to questions of meritocracy in recruitment to the elite and of the representativeness of the elite of the population at large. We also address the question of whether a “generalist” orientation persists within the service. We show that there have been changes over time in the social class origins, schooling, and university attendance of the elite but not ones of a steady directional kind. As regards field of study at university, there has been only a limited increase in those taking subjects that provide specialized, policy‐relevant knowledge. We conclude with evidence that increasing the numbers with such knowledge would be consistent with producing an elite more representative in its social composition.