Bridget Phillipson vowed to tackle the ‘thorny’ challenge of British white working-class kids falling behind their classmates ahead of A-level results day
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson last night(SUN) vowed to tackle the “thorny” challenge of British white working-class young people falling behind their classmates.
The Labour frontbencher said it is a “national disgrace” that too many young people are “written off”. Speaking ahead of A-level results day on Thursday, Ms Phillipson said her focus will be turning around the “stark” attainment gap and outcomes between white working-class children and their peers.
Data shows fewer than a fifth (18.6%) of white British pupils eligible for free school meals achieved at least a grade 5 – which is considered a “strong pass” – in their English and maths GCSEs. This compares to 45.9% of all state school pupils in England, according to the Department for Education (DfE). It comes after Gordon Brown blasts the return of ‘poverty of 60 years ago’ as he makes one big demand.
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The Education Secretary said: “(It) is a national disgrace that so many young people are written off and don’t get what they need to achieve and thrive.” She added: “Far too many young people, particularly white working-class British students, don’t get the exam results that they need at GCSE or A-level to allow them to continue onto university.”
Ms Phillipson said a white paper in the Autumn will spell out an “ambitious vision” to tackle the “general challenge” young people face. She said the Government recognises that there is “still more to do” to tackle some of the disparities young people experience.
“I do want all students to be able to get the full benefits of their time at university, to be able to take up internships, study trips (and) other work experience opportunities,” she said.
“I don’t want students from less well-off backgrounds to be deterred from doing that because of having to take on more hours of paid work.” When asked if the Government is considering bringing back maintenance grants in England to support poorer students facing cost pressures, Ms Phillipson said: “We’re looking at all of the options in terms of how we can support students to both get to university but also to thrive while they’re at university.”
She added that universities have responsibilities “to make sure students from less well-off backgrounds are given the support that they need” to get to university and to complete their studies.
“There’s still a big challenge there in terms of some of the unacceptably high dropout rates that we see for some students,” the Education Secretary said. Last year, the Government announced that undergraduate tuition fees in England, which have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017, will rise to £9,535 for the 2025-26 academic year.
It also announced that maintenance loans will increase in line with inflation in the 2025-26 academic year to help students with their living costs.
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