Fewer than half of adults who received a private education would send their children to a similar school, with just over half believing that it was worth the money, according to a survey.

Almost three quarters of those polled (72%) received a state education compared with 11% who went to private schools, the study by Opinium Research found.

Of those who went to private schools, 45% said they would seek the same for their children and 40% said they would not, despite 55% believing that such an education was worth the money.

Overall, 66% of adults said they would not pay for private education compared with 18% who said they would. Just 15% of state-educated adults would send or have sent their children to private schools.