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Photograph: Stuart Boulton/Alamy View image in fullscreen The inquiry also found white working-class children were about half as likely as their less disadvantaged peers to get GCSEs in maths and English. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/Alamy Schools This article is more than 2 months old High-performing schools in England ‘should be encouraged to admit more white working-class pupils’ This article is more than 2 months old Report says once-in-a-generation changes needed to tackle why such children are lowest-performing large demographic Sally Weale and Peter Walker Mon 29 Jun 2026 19.43 BST First published on Mon 29 Jun 2026 09.40 BST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google High-performing primary and secondary schools in England should be encouraged to admit more disadvantaged pupils from white working-class backgrounds to help reverse a continuing crisis in underachievement, an independent inquiry has said. The independent inquiry into white working-class educational outcomes concluded the current education system was “not set up to serve white working-class children and families”. It said that once-in-a-generation changes were needed to tackle why such children were the lowest-performing large demographic in England’s school system. UK’s former industrial regions face ‘entrenched disadvantages’ going back decades Read more Included in a series of recommendations, the landmark inquiry called for a “clearer definition of white working-class” in the context of education, to provide greater clarity in how the issue is understood and addressed. It said the government should extend access to 30 hours’ free childcare to disadvantaged families who are not currently eligible under the existing working-parent criteria. It also called for a refreshed approach to school-family relationships, to make education a shared endeavour, with more school-based support for families and extracurricular activities for all children. On widening access, the report said high-performing schools should prioritise disadvantaged pupils within existing admissions rules, and engage earlier with families in white working-class communities and help them navigate the admissions process. Welcoming the report, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: “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. “White working-class children have never lacked talent. But they’ve been written off as generation after generation have been robbed of opportunity.” View image in fullscreen Bridget Phillipson: ‘For the first time in a long time, white working-class children have a government that will fight for them.’ Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images The Sutton Trust educational charity warned against setting one disadvantaged group against another, pointing out that disadvantaged young people from Black Caribbean backgrounds were just as unlikely to become top earners. “Ultimately, this isn’t about ethnicity in isolation,” said its chief executive, Nick Harrison. “It’s about the interaction between disadvantage and place, entrenched poverty, communities that have been left behind, and too few routes to good jobs and better lives.” The inquiry, which was commissioned by a schools academy trust and backed by the Department for Education (DfE), said the much-documented poorer performance by white working-class pupils could not be “solved by schools alone”. Based on statistics for white students who received free school meals, a standard metric for deprivation, it found that in 2025, 36% of this cohort in England got a grade 4 or above in English and maths GCSE, compared with an average of 72% for all pupils who did not receive free school meals. Co-chaired by Estelle Morris, a former Labour education secretary, and Hamid Patel, the chief executive of Star Academies, which commissioned the inquiry, the report said the issues identified could not be “explained away by low aspiration or lack of effort”. Phillipson hailed the report as “a really important piece of work”. It was based on interviews with thousands of young people and their parents, as well as hundreds of teachers. “This report lays bare the scale of the challenge, and I know more than most that change will not come overnight, but for the first time in a long time, white working-class children have a government that will fight for them.” Saying the matter was also a significant focus of the DfE’s schools white paper in February, she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that one key issue was school attendance. She added: “The report is also clear, and the evidence is also clear, that children arrive at school not ready to learn, having not achieved the levels that they should. “They’re already behind, they stay behind, and they don’t catch up in the way that they should during their time at school, which is why I’ve expanded early years education in such a big way.” The solutions involved not just schools, Phillipson said, but “beyond the school gate, because so much of what a child is able to achieve in their life comes down to the support their family have”. In an earlier interview with Times Radio, she said: “Class is a huge driver of outcomes, never mind in our politics, but right across society. If by class we mean the family that you’re born into determining what you go on to achieve in life, that’s as strong a driver as anything. “We know that children born into less well-off families are more likely to arrive at school further behind their more affluent peers. We know they don’t make progress across school in closing that gap, and we know they’re more likely at the end of school to go into being not in education, employment, or training. “So, background, social background, family background, where you’re born, they are big determinants of what you achieve in your life.” Other recommendations in the report include an increased focus on reading for white working-class children at primary schools, and an expansion in apprenticeships. It also recommended free local public transport for young people aged up to 21 to reach education, training and work, more early years support, improved mental health support and restrictions on smartphone use in schools. Explore more on these topics Schools Children Education policy Social exclusion Inequality England Social mobility news Share Reuse this content More on this story More on this story England’s teenagers outperform peers in most countries in maths, reading and science 18h ago UK social mobility watchdog could be axed as ministers plan shake-up 31 Aug 2026 ‘Our children are less cognitively capable,’ says neuroscientist who wants to cut screen use in schools 16 Aug 2026 Officials too slow to act on falling pupil numbers in England, says watchdog 22 Apr 2026 Private schools offer 41% more tree shade than state schools in England 16 Jul 2026 New UK civil service internship scheme open only to working-class students 1 Aug 2025 Labour is letting down Britain’s children, says National Education Union leader 2 Apr 2026 Working-class parents do not see film and TV as viable career for their children 4 Sept 2024 Pilot scheme in England to convert empty classrooms into community hubs 14 Jul 2026 Gender guidance for English primary school pupils permits use of different pronouns 12 Feb 2026 Most viewed Most viewed Education Schools Teachers Universities Students News Opinion Sport Culture Lifestyle Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning Sign up for our email About us Help Complaints & corrections Contact us Tip us off SecureDrop Privacy policy Cookie policy Modern Slavery Act Tax strategy Terms & conditions All topics All writers Newsletters Digital newspaper archive Bluesky Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Threads TikTok YouTube Advertise with us Guardian Labs Search jobs Patrons Work with us Accessibility settings Back to top © 2026 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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