BEAUTY may be more than skin deep after all. New research suggests that good-looking people do better in exams and thus probably in later life, than the plain or downright ugly.

Previous research has shown that better-looking people have more success at job interviews and in finding a spouse.

A survey last year of 11,000 33-year-olds by London Metropolitan University found that unattractive men earned 15 per cent less than those who were deemed attractive, while plain women earned 11 per cent less than their prettier colleagues.

A recent study from the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina found that tall people earned $990 more a year than their shorter colleagues.

Research suggests that tall people do better in life because they are more likely to be chosen for positions of authority - prefects, head boys and head girls - when at school.