A failure to ensure that white working-class children succeed is holding back Britain, the Education Secretary has said.
Ahead of
GCSE results day on Thursday, Bridget Phillipson warned that four-fifths of children from white working-class backgrounds were falling short in the English and maths skills required to get on in life.
She said
the demographic had been “let down” and said the UK’s productivity was suffering as a result.
Writing for The Telegraph (read the article below), Ms Phillipson said: “There is one statistic that stands above the rest. In 2024, only 19 per cent of white British, working-class children achieved a strong pass in
maths and English GCSE.
“This data goes back to 2017. Alarmingly, it looks almost identical today to how it did then. It’s appalling, and I won’t stand by and watch those numbers continue to grow. It’s not just the life chances of those children that are being damaged – it’s also the health of our society as a whole. Swathes of human capability and productivity lost.”
Last week, the Education Secretary said she was concerned that white working-class children
were being “written off” by society. Her latest comments go further, suggesting that the impact of failure among the demographic is hurting the economy.
Britain’s
sluggish economic growth over the past few years has been blamed on low productivity levels, which have been languishing since the 2008 financial crisis. Productivity – the amount of output for each hour of work done – doubled in the 35 years before the global recession, but has risen just five per cent since then, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Officials are concerned that failure to provide young people with the skills they need to succeed will only exacerbate the problem, meaning fewer people entering the world of work and more
on benefits.
Ms Phillipson’s remarks also show the Government is increasingly concerned that the UK is failing families in traditional Labour heartlands, as the party struggles to keep pace with growing support for
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
This year’s
GCSE results are expected to show a similar pattern to last year, when more than a fifth – or 21.8 per cent – of all entries were awarded the top grades.
But Ms Phillipson warned that while Thursday would mark a day of celebration for many, the headline figures would cloak high levels of underachievement among
some of the poorest pupils.
Most jobs require applicants to prove they achieved at least a “standard pass” of grade four – equivalent to a low grade C under the former marking system – in their English and maths GCSEs. However, some require a “strong pass” of grade five, which sits between the old grades C and B, in the two compulsory subjects.
Those who fail to achieve a grade four in their English and maths GCSEs are also required to resit the subjects if they stay on at school until they pass them. Experts have warned that the low pass rate for resits means many pupils are condemned to a demoralising doom loop of exam failures – while others are put off from sixth form altogether.
Ms Phillipson said: “Young people from the best schools will be collecting their results this week not only with a world of opportunity ahead, but with experiences that will last a lifetime behind. A rich school experience built on strong academic foundations, with sport, music, the arts not a ‘nice to have’, but woven into the fabric of their education.
“But while this country is a good place to go to school, good isn’t good enough. The images on television and the headline statistics we’ll see this week mask the reality of a system that works for some children – even most children – but continues to let down tens of thousands more.”
The Education Secretary said efforts to tackle the problem would focus on “turning around
the crisis in school attendance”, since poor performance among white working-class pupils is thought to be closely linked to high absence levels.
More than 147,600 pupils were classed as severely absent in the autumn term of 2024, meaning they missed at least half
their classes. That was an increase on the year before and the highest rate for an autumn term since comparable data began in 2016-17.
Earlier this month, The Centre for Social Justice think tank warned that, without urgent action, absences would drive up the number of young people
missing out on future education, employment or training by nearly 180,000.
This would result in an estimated lifetime cost to the taxpayer of £14bn in lost earnings and from young people going on benefits, it added.
The Government is preparing a series of interventions to get to grips with soaring underachievement levels in a white paper to be unveiled in the autumn. Plans include publishing more data on how white pupils are performing, as well as harnessing artificial intelligence to identify schools that are falling short.
Ms Phillipson said: “There is more to do. And it’s why our schools white paper later this year will present an ambitious vision for a child’s school experience, for how we push up outcomes for all young people, for how we stretch the most able to turn a B into an A, and for how we transform the prospects of young people
from deprived backgrounds.
“As someone who grew up as one of those children, and as both a local MP and Secretary of State representing those children, I am absolutely determined to make sure they do better. ”
Our job is to change the odds
By Bridget Phillipson
Exam results days are an annual celebration of education, the power of teaching, learning, hard work, knowledge and skills – from young people and their teachers alike – culminating in opportunities that last a lifetime.
These days symbolise so much of what is good about going to school in this country.
And young people from the best schools will be collecting their results this week not only with a world of opportunity ahead, but with experiences that will last a lifetime behind them. A rich school experience built on strong academic foundations, with sport, music, the arts not a ‘nice to have’, but woven into the fabric of their education.
But while this country is a good place to go to school, good isn’t good enough. The images on television and the headline statistics we’ll see this week mask the reality of a system that works for some children – even most children – but continues to let down tens of thousands more.
The record numbers of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds
going to university are defying the odds. Our job now is to change those odds.
And there is one statistic that stands above the rest. In 2024, only 19 per cent of white British, working-class children achieved a strong pass in maths and English GCSE. Fewer than one in five of all white British children on free school meals are leaving school with the maths and English skills to succeed in work and life.
This data goes back to 2017. Alarmingly, it looks almost identical today to how it did then. It’s appalling, and I won’t stand by and watch those numbers continue to grow. It’s not just the life chances of those children that are being damaged – it’s also the health of our society as a whole. Swathes of human capability and productivity lost.
As someone who grew up as one of those children, and as both a local MP and Secretary of State representing those children, I am absolutely determined to make sure they do better.
Better is not going to be simple, nor easy, nor quick. These are issues that run not only through our schools and classrooms, but into our communities. And they take root at the very earliest stages of a child’s life and education.
It’s why I’ve made the early years my number one priority
as Education Secretary, because the single best way for us to close the gaps that emerge by the time young people leave school, is to stop them opening up at all.
It’s why we are revitalising family services by opening a Best Start Family Hub in every local authority, because better support for parents can only help when it comes to better support for children.
And it’s why the progress we’re making on turning around
the crisis in school attendance is so vital – because young people cannot be on the path to success if they’re not in the classroom to begin with.
But there is more to do. And it’s why our schools white paper later this year will present an ambitious vision for a child’s school experience, for how we push up outcomes for all young people, for how we stretch the most able to turn a B into an A, and for how we transform the prospects of young people from deprived backgrounds.
