I just wanted to make this one post and temporarily break my silence. I'll be starting at a bank and have seen the educational profiles of many of my fellow graduates.
There is not a single person in a front office position (IBD, S&T, ECM/DCM) outside of these universities:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
Warwick
UCL
St Andrews
Edinburgh
Bath (just one)
Here are the middle office unis:
Cass
Manchester (incl. Manchester Business School)
Oxford Brookes
Durham
Loughborough
Warwick (MSc HR Management or something)
The vast majority of those going into middle office have degrees in finance, economics, or math. Amongst the front office students, there are degrees in law, history, politics, and even one in music.
So...as I've said and I'll say again, for the front office, it appears that university reputation matters more than the course. If you are outside this circle (which I agree is flexible and differs slightly between different banks), you pretty much need a relevant degree just to get in the door, and it probably won't be the front door. This includes people who not only have finance-related degrees, but also MScs as well.