Lee Elliot Major is right to highlight in this piece that without basic grades in both English and maths, the odds of success are stacked against you. These quals are so crucial that young people missing them need to retain the chance to continue to study English and maths post-16.

For too long our education system has failed a huge number of forgotten pupils. In our research we find that without grade 4s in both English & maths GCSEs, the odds of success are stacked against you: in terms of education but also health and criminality. theguardian.com/education/arti…

Teenagers who fail to achieve a standard pass in their English and maths GCSEs face ‘dire’ life consequences, social mobility professor Lee Elliot Major warns. More from Eleanor Busby The Independent independent.co.uk/news/uk/englis… #education #educationnews

Glad to see call for social class to be included in diversity efforts in TV industry. Class remains the missing dimension of diversity among so many employers (including the BBC) despite barriers & biases limiting those from 'lower' socioeconomic origins. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Professor Lee Elliot Major from School of Education, University of Exeter spoke to The World at One about #GCSEresults and educational divides around the country bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

My The World at One interview on GCSE resits. Many teachers are doing remarkable work helping pupils retake GCSEs in under-funded colleges, achieving impressive grades by 19. But many parents also want a vocational option for their children. Interview at 23m bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

Looking forward to this one! Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman on persistent but changing British elites

Do get in touch - many parents have been in touch following my BBC interview on GCSEs retakes & the delicate balance we need to find in this make or break policy for so many teenagers, 23 mins in.. bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

Our research 'Not Just Grades' found that teenagers missing out on grade 4s in English & maths GCSEs are twice as likely as otherwise similar teenagers to be smoking daily by age 17-18 and twice as likely to be cautioned by the police. Working paper: discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1019…

Depressing piece on BBC Radio 4 #YouandYours discussing more students commuting to university. There's no doubt about it. Social mobility at an all time low. Education now a commodity and young people being failed. Lee Elliot Major spot on with the need to reintroduce grants.

We are witnessing the biggest socio-economic divides between student haves & have-nots in our universities for a generation, driven by rising levels of poverty&hardship & a broken higher education funding system. My comments on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

The Fade-out challenge: improving early years support will be key strand of government's new opportunity mission. But gains from early initiatives always fade without further support as children age. Every stage of young people's lives is important. edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/…

Good to see Jemima Reilly on developing relationships with pupils to reduce post covid rise in school suspensions. Resonates with equity approach I’ve been advocating to develop authentic, non-deficit relationships, not transactional top down approach. theguardian.com/education/arti…

Not surprising that actors with working class origins are less likely to get recognition but Gary Oldman is refreshingly frank about being apparently snubbed by the honours system! Those from privileged backgrounds are much more likely to be awarded gongs. mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/gar…

Good that Ofsted putting outcomes of disadvantaged/vulnerable pupils at heart of new inspections. Must move away from system that punishes teachers for serving deprived communities & creates incentives for schools to take fewer poorer pupils. schoolsweek.co.uk/ofsteds-big-li…

Guidance to schools on last tranche of national tutoring programme funds. It will be a tragedy if we fail to create a positive legacy from huge public spend on a good education bet for equalising pupils' progress - lots of good tutoring schemes out there! gov.uk/government/pub…

In our Nuffield Foundation report we estimated that the UK's intergenerational income mobility could fall by as much as 15% due to widening education gaps; this is the measure the government hopes to increase in its mission to dismantle barriers to opportunity

Damning The Sutton Trust report on widespread socio-economic segregation across England's state schools. We need fairer & more transparent admissions & Ofsted scrutiny to assess whether schools are taking their 'fare share' of pupils from local communities. suttontrust.com/our-research/s…

Lee Elliot Major research highlighted concerns the current assessment framework penalises schools serving areas of high disadvantage. Major🗣️“Not enough emphasis is placed in inspections on how well schools are serving children from under-resourced backgrounds” nuffieldfoundation.org/project/covid-…

'Today's education system is a sorting machine that picks winners & losers judged by narrow academic tests. A rigged education race that has elevated academic skills above all other attributes in how we reward people in society.' Equity in Education book: johncattbookshop.com/products/equit…