The Sutton Trust held its 10th anniversary celebrations at the Banqueting House on the evening of Monday 15th October. Five-hundred guests – including Cabinet Ministers, Parliamentarians, philanthropists and representatives from schools, universities and Trust-supported projects – heard the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, describe the work of the Trust as an “inspiration to all of us [which] has won over these ten years the huge respect and admiration of the whole of the British community.”

The Prime Minister continued that the Trust has “already started to transform life in our universities, colleges and schools” and added that “I believe that the research that the Sutton Trust has done in these last ten years has made an enormous difference to the way we look at problems in our society.” He concluded that Sir Peter Lampl, the Trust’s Chairman and founder “is genuinely transforming lives” and thanked the Sutton Trust, its advisory board, and all those who have contributed to its “great ten years”.

Sir Peter responded to Gordon Brown’s kind words by emphasising the Trust’s commitment to continuing its fruitful collaboration with government and to influencing the education policy debate through research and innovative pilot projects. But he also set out the challenges that remain in the next ten years: to address Britain’s shamefully low levels of social mobility and to break the link between educational achievement and social background. To do this, Sir Peter outlined that the Trust will be focusing particularly on: more interventions in the early years; embedding university access and enrichment work in the core school curriculum; projects targeted at key transitions in young people’s lives; and on increasing its research capacity.