Are schools doing enough to inspire the next generation?

Sir Peter Lampl is concerned by the Sutton Trust’s latest study which found that disadvantaged students are less likely to think they will go to university compared to their privileged peers.

Level playing field

According to the research, only 27% of disadvantaged students believe they will enter higher education compared to 39% of privileged students.

Sir Peter Lampl is the Chairman of the Sutton Trust, a charity which promotes social mobility through education. He called on schools to do more to raise pupils’ aspirations: “We need to offer more support to disadvantaged young people throughout their education so that they are in a position to fulfil their potential after GCSE.”

Previous research by the Sutton Trust found that students from the poorest areas in England are 2.4 times less likely to attend university compared to those from wealthy areas.

Gender gap

The research, conducted by a team from the University of Oxford, identified a gender gap in attitudes towards university at 13, with girls more likely than boys to believe that going to university is important. Almost 65% thought it very important to go to university, compared with 58% of boys. Around one in 10 girls felt it was not important to get a degree, but among boys the proportion declaring university of little importance was 15%.

Professor Kathy Sylva said: “The higher aspirations of girls in comparison to boys may be linked to their greater A-level success and gaining admission to university.”

Narrowing

Despite this latest research, the government has argued that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates has narrowed in the last five years.

A spokesperson for the government said: “We have introduced a more rigorous curriculum so every child, regardless of their background, learns the basics they need, such as English and maths, so they can go on to fulfil their potential, whether that’s into the world of work or continuing their studies, and encouraging more young people, particularly girls, to study STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) subjects.”