David Johnston is Chief Executive of the Social Mobility Foundation
October 2016
The Social Mobility Commission published an Index at the start of 2016 that ranks England's 324 authorities on a combination of social mobility measures. It should serve as a wake-up call, not least for businesses' approach to outreach.
The Index combines measures of early years (including school readiness at age 5 and the ratings of nurseries), schools (including Ofsted ratings of schools and GCSE results), post-school (including the level of young people who are not in education, employment or training; progression to higher education; and to the most selective universities) and adulthood (including average wages, house prices and professional jobs). If you only remember one thing about the Index, it should be that Tower Hamlets, where so much of the country's business activity takes place, is in the best-performing 5 areas of the country – not just of East London or London as a whole. On this Index, 30/32 of London boroughs are in the social mobility hotspots – the 20% best performing local authorities in England.
There are plenty of other interesting facts within the Index. With the exception of London, the large cities in England have a patchy record: Manchester finishes at 144, Birmingham at 160, Leeds at 224 and Liverpool at 256. Nottingham is very close to the bottom at 311. Oxford and Cambridge both perform badly at 264 and 275 respectively: in 2013, not a single FSM child in Oxfordshire went to Oxbridge. In 2014 not a single FSM child from Cambridgeshire did so. Areas which are near to each other often have vastly different performance. Trafford and Oldham are 15 miles apart but separated by 274 places on the Social Mobility Index. Slough and Bracknell Forest, both in Berkshire, ranked 35 and 203 respectively. Hillingdon and Crawley, both next to major airports (Heathrow and Gatwick) are 56 and 309 respectively. Many of the richest areas in England are worse for disadvantaged children than areas that are much poorer.
What this should mean for the signatories to Access Accountancy and everyone else is that they become much more targeted in the work they do with young people. There is talent right the way across the country, but opportunities are only offered in select places. If firms are genuinely committed to finding the best future employees and truly making a difference with their activities, they should rebalance their activities away from London and to the areas of the country that are offered so little at present.
Click here to read more about the Social Mobility Commission's Social Mobility Index.
The Index combines measures of early years (including school readiness at age 5 and the ratings of nurseries), schools (including Ofsted ratings of schools and GCSE results), post-school (including the level of young people who are not in education, employment or training; progression to higher education; and to the most selective universities) and adulthood (including average wages, house prices and professional jobs). If you only remember one thing about the Index, it should be that Tower Hamlets, where so much of the country's business activity takes place, is in the best-performing 5 areas of the country – not just of East London or London as a whole. On this Index, 30/32 of London boroughs are in the social mobility hotspots – the 20% best performing local authorities in England.
There are plenty of other interesting facts within the Index. With the exception of London, the large cities in England have a patchy record: Manchester finishes at 144, Birmingham at 160, Leeds at 224 and Liverpool at 256. Nottingham is very close to the bottom at 311. Oxford and Cambridge both perform badly at 264 and 275 respectively: in 2013, not a single FSM child in Oxfordshire went to Oxbridge. In 2014 not a single FSM child from Cambridgeshire did so. Areas which are near to each other often have vastly different performance. Trafford and Oldham are 15 miles apart but separated by 274 places on the Social Mobility Index. Slough and Bracknell Forest, both in Berkshire, ranked 35 and 203 respectively. Hillingdon and Crawley, both next to major airports (Heathrow and Gatwick) are 56 and 309 respectively. Many of the richest areas in England are worse for disadvantaged children than areas that are much poorer.
What this should mean for the signatories to Access Accountancy and everyone else is that they become much more targeted in the work they do with young people. There is talent right the way across the country, but opportunities are only offered in select places. If firms are genuinely committed to finding the best future employees and truly making a difference with their activities, they should rebalance their activities away from London and to the areas of the country that are offered so little at present.
Click here to read more about the Social Mobility Commission's Social Mobility Index.