London tops social mobility league amid ‘stark regional divide’

London has topped England’s social mobility league for children, after the top 20 constituencies with the best social mobility were found in the capital, according to a new report from The Sutton Trust.In its ‘Opportunity Index’ report published today (15 May), the education charity’s findings “underscore the stark regional divide in children’s life chances”.

The 20 constituencies with the highest ranking for opportunity were in London, with East Ham ranking in top place. Overall, out of the top 50 constituencies ranked, 42 were in London.

The report outlines the “inequality in educational outcomes for children from better off and poorer parliamentary constituencies”, according to teacher’s union NAHT. 

The Opportunity Index analyses six measures of mobility, including school attainment, the share of children on free school meals who achieve passes in GCSE maths and English, those who complete a degree by aged 22 and average earnings by aged 28.

It found that Free School Meals (FSM) pupils from East Ham were over three times more likely to have a degree by age 22, at 35%, compared to those in Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West, at 10%.

Comparing the highest ranked area of East Ham to the lowest ranked area of Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West showed a 30% gap in achievement of GCSE grade 5 in English and maths between FSM pupils in both areas.

According to The Sutton Trust, the highest ranked area outside of London is Birmingham Perry Bar at 23, while the lowest ranked London borough was Orpington, which ranked in 327th place. 

While 18% of FSM pupils from London were in the top 20% of earners at age 28, only 7% of those from the North East are, as are 7% from the North West and 7% from Yorkshire and the Humber.

Following its findings, the charity said the government must have a “renewed national focus on closing the attainment gap between lower-income children and their peers”.

Its recommendations include equalising access to early education by making at least 20 hours of provision available to all three- and four-year-olds, reforming the National Funding Formula to “rebalance funding back towards schools serving the most disadvantaged communities” and expanding free school meal eligibility to all children on Universal Credit.  

The report said: “Opportunities for social mobility will only be available nationwide if there is a more even spread of economic opportunities across the country. This should be a sustained effort across government, potentially including greater devolution of powers and reforms to funding for local government, as well as greater investment in infrastructure regionally – including transport, and opportunities for education and training.”

Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at NAHT, added: “Regional inequalities in educational attainment were exacerbated over the last decade by funding cuts under the previous government to schools and community services, the pandemic, and the cost-of-living crisis. Schools do their best to mitigate the impact of this and support pupils, and we welcome the education secretary’s focus on closing the disadvantage gap.

“However, schools alone cannot solve what are often deep-rooted challenges in families’ lives. As well as increased funding for schools we also need more government investment in services like social care and mental health, as well as action to tackle poverty, if children across the country are to flourish in the classroom.”