Image source, Getty ImagesOnce-in-a-generation reforms are needed to fix an education system that “is not serving the interests of white working-class children”, an independent inquiry has concluded.
It was set up last summer to look into why such children are the lowest-performing large demographic in the school system in England.
Inquiry co-chair Baroness Estelle Morris said responsibility “cannot sit with schools alone” and was not due to a lack of aspiration or effort from young people.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said generations had been “robbed of opportunity”.
“The communities in this report are my communities. I know what they’ve given this country and what this country has failed to give back,” she said.
The Independent Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes, external was commissioned by the multi-academy trust Star Academies and is supported by the Department for Education.
It spoke to thousands of young people and their parents as well as hundreds of teachers. Education data about white working class pupils was also analysed as part of the year-long review, looking at the 1.25 million young people in England who are white British and in receipt of free school meals.
The inquiry found a growing belief among white working-class families that the current education system does not guarantee future success.
Baroness Morris, who was education secretary under Tony Blair’s Labour government from 2001 to 2002, said none of the initiatives rolled out in the past 30 years had significantly or sustainably boosted the performance of white working-class children in school.
There was a disconnect between what the children and their parents want in terms of careers and what their schools can offer them, she said.
While the system often emphasises academic progression to higher education, the inquiry said many families place greater importance on the social experience of school and wanted to see more high-quality vocational options like apprenticeships in their local area.
The inquiry is calling for sweeping changes, from more support in the early years to improved mental health support and restrictions on smartphone use in schools.
It makes 24 recommendations, including:
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Free access to local public transport for all young people up to the age of 21, improving access to education, training and work
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Extending 30 hours of free childcare to all disadvantaged families, not just those in work
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Making reading fluency at primary school a national priority for white working class children
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A major expansion of apprenticeships, so that all young people who want one can access a high-quality apprenticeship local to them
The inquiry said the move to secondary education was a key moment where students can start to disengage with school.
That was the case for Stephen, who is 16 now but left school three years ago and spent the next three years out of education.
He said if the system was more vocational, then he may have stayed on.
“I feel like schools need to engage in more practical work because, at least for me, the written work didn’t work,” he said.
“So if they engaged in more practical work, that would help people who couldn’t really complete school because it would help them learn actual skills that are useful for them.”
At the beginning of this year, he started a four-week course in Preston, run by the charity Spear, which supports young people back into work or education and then mentors them for six months.
With their support, he is pursuing his dream of becoming a barber, and is starting a college course in September.
Baroness Morris said data from the inquiry would not include those from families on low incomes who do not receive free school meals, and a wider definition is needed.
“Ironically some of the changes we’ll bring in for this group will benefit all children,” she said.
The inquiry found that children, families and communities had spoken powerfully about the joy, pride, humour, identity and sense of community that comes with being white working class.
“The task is not to change these communities, but to build an education system that better recognises, values and builds upon the strengths already within them.”
Phillipson said the report laid bare the scale of the challenge, but added that “for the first time in a long time white working-class children have a government that will fight for them”.
She said: “From lifting the two-children limit, to more opportunities through sport and the arts, to breathing new life into family services, I’m changing things for these children and families.”
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