This presentation covers a suite of papers from a project on private and selective schooling and unequal outcomes in the UK. We primarily draw on longitudinal data from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70). Some key findings: 1) Advantaged social origins and private schooling were both linked to a strong advantage in educational attainment, including access to elite universities; 2) The effect of childhood socio-economic origins on social class in mid-life was largely mediated by educational attainment, with no evidence for a ‘direct effect of social origins’ (DESO). However, there was a direct role of private schooling, above and beyond educational attainment; 3) Comparing two generations born in 1958 and 1970, the role of private schools has changed, as private schooling is substantially more positively linked to educational attainment for the younger cohort.