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14 April 2026

Tag: social mobility

OECD: Target extra resources at schools serving disadvantaged areas

Policy makers must target extra resources towards schools supporting large numbers of disadvantaged pupils, according to a new report. The ‘Equity in Education’ paper from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) examined barriers to social mobility, and suggested governments should set “ambitious goals” for disadvantaged students and direct additional resources at their schools […]

We’re one step closer to solving the social mobility conundrum

Today, the government published its ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’ report, which echoes many of the points made by the National Association of Head Teachers in recent years, particularly the focus on early-years education. The problem is, that despite the good and improving system that we know exists, and was noted by Amanda Spielman in her […]

Social mobility isn’t about behaving like the middle class

We need to change the entire conversation on social mobility to have a chance of changing people’s lives for the better, says Prof Sonia Blandford A staggering 2.5 million children and young people in Britain live in poverty, and they are “born to fail” according to social mobility metrics as put forward by those in power. […]

We won’t know if opportunity areas have worked until at least 2021

The government won’t be able to gauge the impact of a £72 million project to boost social mobility in 12 “opportunity areas” until after 2020, its own research has found. John Rodger, a partner with York Consulting hired by the government to evaluate the success of the  programme, has warned that expectations “may be set […]

50 years before we have an equitable school system

We’re making slow progress in closing the attainment gap, claims the Education Policy Institute’s Jo Hutchinson, because the picture is far more complex than you’d think The gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has been entrenched in our education system for generations. These gaps become evident in the early years and grow […]

3 things I learned about social mobility

Participation in higher education from young people in disadvantaged groups is greater than ever – but is this the full picture? Andrew Berwick shares some insights from The Bridge Group’s recent social mobility conference “The UK is a remarkable country: we are the least socially mobile in Europe. You have to work really hard to […]

How to make Opportunity Areas work: build sustainable programmes

As long as pupils from independent schools are still more than twice as likely to attend a Russell Group university, we should all focus on doing everything we can to support social mobility in the UK. The secretary of state’s intent and the philosophy behind opportunity areas is therefore a wholly good thing and we […]

How to make Opportunity Areas work: invest in local people

Opportunity areas are a welcome commitment to social mobility. They demonstrate a legitimate concern that all parts of the country should have a high quality education system. They target resources, support and attention and are no doubt inspired by the success of the London Challenge – which has been surprisingly difficult to transfer to other […]

More faith schools ‘unlikely’ to boost social mobility

A plan to boost the number of faith school places by changing prohibitive admissions rules on new schools is “unlikely to be effective” in increasing social mobility, warns the Education Policy Institute (EPI). The think tank has found that pupils in faith schools seem to do “little or no better than in non-faith schools” once […]