This evidence that education pays off was presented at the Royal Economic Society's annual conference in St Andrews University on Wednesday.

There is no such thing as a gene for labour market success

Dr Jonathan Haskel

In an attempt to identify the financial impact of education - rather than social factors or any genetic predispositions - the researchers tracked the experience of identical female twins.

And this found that where there were differences in the length of time that twins spent in education - each year extra in education yielded a 8% increase in pay.

This "strong correlation" between the time spent in education and subsequent earning power is claimed as the first time that the impact of school can be distinguished from other factors.

The findings also suggested that external experiences such as education could prove a stronger influence than any genetic "blueprint".

"In the feverish atmosphere surroundong the mapping of the human genome, the research using identical twins also demonstrates clearly that there is no such thing as a gene for labour market success," said Jonathan Haskel of Queen Mary and Westfield College in London.