The Great British class calculator: What class are you?
Traditional British social divisions of upper, middle and working class seem out of date in the 21st Century, no longer reflecting modern occupations or lifestyles.
The BBC teamed up with sociologists from leading universities to analyse the modern British class system. They surveyed more than 161,000 people and came up with a new model made up of seven groups. To find out where you fit in use this calculator below.
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- Economic
- Cultural
- Your result
Take the test
The results from BBC Lab UK’s Great British Class Survey reveal a brand new class system of seven groups.
Answer five questions to see where you fit in:
You
You
Result: the class group you most closely match is:
Elite
This is the wealthiest and most privileged group in the UK. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:
- Enjoy high cultural activities such as visiting museums and listening to classical music
- Went to private school and elite universities
- Socialise with people who do a wide variety of jobs
Established middle class
This is the most gregarious and the second wealthiest of all the class groups. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:
- Enjoy a diverse range of cultural activities
- Went to university
- Are comfortably off, secure and established
Technical middle class
This is a small, distinctive and prosperous new class group. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:
- Mix socially with people similar to themselves
- Work in research, science and technical fields
- Enjoy emerging culture such as going to the gym and using social media
New affluent workers
This class group is sociable, has lots of cultural interests and is in the middle of all the class groups in terms of wealth. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:
- Are young
- Come from a working class background
- Own their own home
Traditional working class
This class group scores low for economic, social and cultural factors, but they do have some financial security. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:
- Own their own home
- Are older
- Tend to mix socially with people similar to themselves
Emergent service workers
This class group is financially insecure, scoring low for savings and house value, but high for social and cultural factors. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:
- Are young
- Enjoy a cultured social life
- Rent their home - almost 90%
Precariat
This is the poorest and most deprived class group. According to the Great British Class Survey results, lots of people in this group:
- Tend to mix socially with people like themselves
- Come from a working class background
- Rent their home - over 80%
Select the categories below to explore the class groups
Archetypes
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Elite
Percentage of population 6%
Average age 57
This is the wealthiest and most privileged group in the UK:
- They are the UK's biggest earners
- They score highest for social, cultural and economic factors
- Many went to private school and elite universities - 24% of people in this group were privately educated, far more than in any other class group
- This class is most likely to be found in London and the home counties
- This group is exclusive and very hard to join, most come from very privileged backgrounds
- 97% of people in this group own their own home
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Established middle class
Percentage of population 25%
Average age 46
This is the most gregarious and the second wealthiest of all the class groups:
- People in this group enjoy a diverse range of cultural activities
- They socialise with a broad range of people
- Many work in management or the traditional professions
- Most come from middle class backgrounds
- They often live outside urban areas
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Technical middle class
Percentage of population 6%
Average age 52
This is a small, distinctive and prosperous new class group:
- People in this group tend to mix socially with people similar to themselves
- They prefer emerging culture, such as using social media, to highbrow culture such as listening to classical music
- Many people in this group work in research, science and technical occupations
- They tend to live in suburban locations, often in the south east of England
- They come from largely middle class backgrounds
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New affluent workers
Percentage of population 15%
Average age 44
This class group is sociable, has lots of cultural interests and sits in the middle of all the groups in terms of wealth:
- This youthful class group is economically secure, without being well off
- These people have high scores for emerging culture, such as watching sport, going to gigs and using social media
- They do not tend to participate in highbrow culture, such as classical music and theatre
- People in this group are likely to come from a working class background
- Many people in this group live in old manufacturing centres of the UK in the Midlands and North West
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Traditional working class
Percentage of population 14%
Average age 66
This class group scores low for economic, social and cultural factors, but they do have some financial security:
- Many people in this group own their own home
- They tend to mix socially with people like themselves
- They tend not to enjoy emerging culture, such as going to the gym or using social media
- This group has the oldest average age
- Jobs in this group include lorry drivers, cleaners and electricians
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Emergent service workers
Percentage of population 19%
Average age 34
This class group is financially insecure with low scores for savings and house value, but high for social and cultural factors:
- This is the youngest of all the class groups
- People in this group have the highest score for emerging culture, which includes going to gigs, using social media and playing sport
- They are an urban group, living in inexpensive locations in large cities like Liverpool and Newcastle
- They socialise with a broad range of people
- Jobs in this group include chefs, nursing auxiliaries and production assistants
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Precariat
Percentage of population 15%
Average age 50
This is the poorest and most deprived class group. People in this group score low for economic, social and cultural factors:
- They tend to mix socially with people like them
- Jobs in this group include cleaner, van driver and care worker
- They tend not to have a broad range of cultural interests
- People in this group often live in old industrial areas away from urban centres
- More than 80% rent their home
About the capitals
Coloured wedges represent your details, select icons to find out more.
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Economic capital
The purple wedges show your economic "capital" score. The first wedge represents your income and the second wedge shows the combination of your savings and property value.
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Cultural capital
The first blue wedge shows your emerging cultural capital score and the second shows your "highbrow" cultural capital score. Emerging cultural activities include playing sport and going to gigs. Highbrow cultural activities include listening to classical music and going to the theatre.
- Your personal information is safe - all calculations are carried out on your computer
- BBC Lab UK's Great British Class Survey was launched in January 2011. More than 161,000 people took part, making this the largest ever study of class in the UK
- The Great British Class Survey was designed and the data analysed by Professors Mike Savage and Fiona Devine and their teams at the London School of Economics and the Universities of York and Manchester
- The class calculator provides you with an approximate position in the new class system compared with the full Great British Class Survey
Produced by: Steven Atherton, Kathy Neal, Harjit Kaura, Christine Jeavans and Applied Works
