Improving outcomes for white working class children should not be a partisan cause
4 min read
When the Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes started its work, few challenged the need to address the issue. Those working in education knew what the data told us, but years of effort and a myriad of initiatives had failed to solve the problem.
What marks out this research is that, alongside analysing the data, we listened to children and young people describe their experience of growing up in today’s education system. We heard parents talk about the hopes they have for their children, and listened to teachers, school leaders, employers and community organisations trying to make a difference in exceptionally challenging circumstances.
For much of the past three decades, education policy has rightly focused on narrowing gaps in attainment and expanding opportunity. We should recognise how much progress has been made. Outcomes have improved for many groups of children. More young people now leave education with opportunities that simply did not exist a generation ago.
But one uncomfortable truth remains. White working class children continue to experience some of the weakest educational outcomes in England. This isn’t a new problem, nor one that has been ignored. Schools, governments and charities have all tried to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children. Yet despite these efforts, progress for this particular group has remained frustratingly limited.
The temptation is to search for a single explanation. Some argue aspirations are too low, others point to poverty, while others blame schools or families. Our Inquiry suggests the reality is considerably more complicated. We found parents who cared deeply about their children’s education and wanted them to succeed. We found teachers working tirelessly on behalf of their pupils. We found children who wanted successful futures.
What we also found, though, was a growing disconnect between many white working class communities and the education system. Again and again, we heard families questioning whether education still offered the certainty of opportunity it once had. Many parents spoke about struggling to see how success at school connected to the lives their children were likely to lead. Many young people told us they found it difficult to understand why what they were learning mattered to their future.
This should concern us all. Not because any one political party or government is responsible, but because confidence in education is essential if families are to believe it can still improve their children’s lives.
That is why I hope our report is read as an invitation to think differently. This isn’t about ranking disadvantage or suggesting one group matters more than another. Poverty remains the greatest predictor of poor educational outcomes across every ethnic group. But good policymaking means paying attention to where disadvantage persists, understanding why, and responding accordingly.
Neither is this simply about exam results. Throughout the Inquiry we heard about belonging, confidence, relationships, transitions, careers guidance, local opportunity and helping young people see a future worth striving for. Educational success is about much more than qualifications alone.
Nor is this a criticism of schools. One of the most hopeful aspects of our work was visiting schools and colleges already achieving strong outcomes for white working class pupils. Their success reminds us that poor outcomes are not inevitable.
The recommendations we have published deliberately form a long-term agenda rather than a short-term programme. Some could be implemented relatively quickly, while others will require investment, structural reform and sustained commitment over many years. That is inevitable. Problems that have developed over generations cannot be solved overnight.
But if there is one lesson I hope politicians of every party take from this Inquiry, it is that improving outcomes for white working class children should not be a partisan cause. It should be a national one. Every child deserves to believe that education is for them, that their efforts matter, and that success is achievable regardless of where they grow up. That is an ambition surely worth uniting around.
Baroness Morris is a Labour peer and co-chair of the Independent Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes
