The Sutton Report On  Social Mobility

25 June 2007

Commenting on the findings of the Sutton Trust report into the failure of the Government’s education policy to give poorer children a chance to improve their social standing, Steve Sinnott General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Britain’s largest teaching Union said.

“The Sutton Trust’s report on social mobility is alarming, it highlights the task for Gordon Brown’s Government in realising his commitments to end material poverty and educational disadvantage.

“The Sutton Trust’s talk of democratising selection as a solution is however a dangerous sideshow. In whatever form it comes selection drives inequity. It is impossible to democratise.

“The Government should ignore such siren voices. It should build on its commitments to tackle poverty at home and abroad and concentrate on developing a comprehensive programme which tackles social and educational disadvantage and gives schools in the toughest areas the support they need”.