Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust and of the Education Endowment Foundation said that today’s report by the social mobility commissioner Alan Milburn provided a wake-up call to politicians and policymakers on the dangers of social mobility reversing again.

Sir Peter Lampl said:

“Alan Milburn rightly identifies twin problems that threaten to put social mobility further into reverse in the future: continuing child poverty and the danger that those on middle incomes face lower living standards than their parents.

“This report is a wake-up call to politicians and policymakers to turn concern about social mobility and child poverty into stronger action.

“Government needs to review the long-term impact of graduates facing debts of up to £50,000 (plus 3% real interest) on their student loans and the absence of sufficient credible alternatives to university for young people, including the need to offer many more good apprenticeships.

“Through the Education Endowment Foundation, we are trialling and rigorously evaluating the best approaches to raising standards for our poorest pupils. But it is vital that the work of schools is backed up at home and young people have real apprenticeship and job opportunities available to them when they leave school, if we are to reduce our unacceptably high level of youth unemployment and the numbers not in education, training or employment (NEETS).”

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.   The Sutton Trust is a foundation set up in 1997, dedicated to improving social mobility through education. It has published over 135 research studies and funded and evaluated programmes that have helped hundreds of thousands of young people of all ages, from early years through to Access to the Professions.

2.   The Education Endowment Foundation is a charity set up in 2011 by the Sutton Trust as lead foundation in partnership with Impetus Trust, with a Department for Education grant of £125m. It is dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement. Since its launch the EEF has awarded £28.7 million to 56 projects working with over 300,000 pupils in over 1,800 schools across England.

3.    A new report by the Boston Consulting Group for the Sutton Trust comparing apprenticeships internationally and recommending a big expansion of advanced apprenticeships in England was published today. The report Real Apprenticeships is available at the Sutton Trust website at https://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/real-apprenticeships-2/