🚨 15% of players in the England Men's World Cup squad went to a private school. Ahead of the World Cup semi-final tonight, we've looked at the backgrounds of the players in the squad ⚽️⬇️

💬 “We talk about the Westminster bubble. These figures suggest it’s not just a political bubble, but a geographical one too.” @nickharrison73.bsky.social Read our full analysis ⤵️ buff.ly/c0b3JfK

The House of Lords stands out for being particularly unrepresentative. Almost half (46%) were educated in London the South East, and 31% attended private schools in these regions.

We find that 42% of senior civil servants, diplomats, and public body CEOs were educated in London and the South East. A quarter (23%) of them also attended private schools in these regions.

🚨 NEW: Almost half of all top government officials were educated in London and the South East. Our new analysis, which builds on our previous research on Britain's most powerful people, reveals that key decision making positions in society are dominated by southerners ⤵️🧵

Andy Burnham has pledged to create Number 10 North to spread power across Britain. But where exactly in the country were top government officials educated? Which regions do some of Britain's most influential people come from? New analysis, out tomorrow.

The UK's accent diversity should be celebrated, as a marker of our rich history and culture. But a long history of class-based social hierarchy has created a deep rooted hierarchy of accents, with biases and stereotypes leading to discrimination 👎

💬 “University isn't the right choice for everyone. But for those with the ability and ambition to go, we shouldn't let their background stand in the way.” Today, we have published joint guidance with @universities-uk.bsky.social and @ucas.com for universities on contextual admissions.

✍️ “Schools have become a pipeline to becoming NEET.” At our recent APPG on Social Mobility roundtable, parliamentarians discussed the experiences of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), drawing on findings from the Young People and Work interim report.

Catch up on our monthly newsletter 📬 This month, we shared new research, Crossing Paths, marked Social Mobility Day, hosted a Room to Grow panel with @smfthinktank.bsky.social, responded to the latest IFS report and published new alumni stories and blogs. Read here 🔗 buff.ly/Tzxl1Da

Only 9% of the country’s tech workforce comes from lower-income backgrounds. And when it comes to the people building startups, founders from working-class backgrounds remain dramatically underrepresented. Today, a brand-new initiative has been launched to change that 🧵⤵️

💬 “This inquiry lays bare the cost of leaving whole communities behind." The Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes has published its findings this morning. Read our full response ⬇️🧵 www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

White working class young people have the lowest attainment of any group. And our new rankings shows how access to opportunity differs for these young people across the country. We find that city areas tend to have a lower ranking, most notably Newcastle, Brighton, and Leeds, among others.

🎤 "I'm afraid the reality is that education in and of itself is not enough, education merely gets you to the starting lineup of a race." It was fantastic to hear our Crossing Paths report discussed by Hashi Mohamed and Fi Glover on Times Radio last week.

Our Selective Inclusion report was at the centre of a discussion at Lords Questions recently 👏 This research explores the link between special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and socio-economic disadvantage in school admissions.

📊 Unique data viz from our new research on the link between access to opportunity and place, gender, and ethnicity 📊 The Crossing Paths Data Interactive uses the data we gathered for the research to tell the overall story of our report ⤵️ www.suttontrust.com/crossing-pat...

💬 “Some disadvantaged groups, particularly working-class girls, and many ethnic minorities, dramatically outperform at school, only to see those gains disappear in the labour market." Our report unpacks how gender, ethnicity, and place shape opportunity ⤵️ www.suttontrust.com/our-research...

💬 “For too many young people, hard work and academic success are still no guarantee of equal opportunity.” @nickharrison73.bsky.social Read the full report ⬇️ www.suttontrust.com/our-research...

🔍 How do outcomes and earnings differ for white working class young people across the country? White British pupils on free school meals have the lowest attainment of any group. Our new map allows you to explore their outcomes in detail ⤵️ www.suttontrust.com/crossing-pat...

Talent exists in every community, but opportunity clearly isn’t equal. A plan is needed to address the inequalities faced by young people across different regions and ethnic backgrounds. The government must ramp up support for the most left-behind communities, focusing on those who need it most.

As part of our analysis, we’ve ranked constituencies in England to show the differing outcomes of white working-class young people across the country. Use our interactive map to see how this group performs in different areas ⬇️ www.suttontrust.com/crossing-pat...

Looking at social mobility, just 8% of white British FSM and Black Caribbean pupils go on to become top earners, compared to 20% of other Asian and 19% of Indian FSM pupils.

The report also shows that the strong academic outcomes of pupils in London are largely driven by ethnic diversity. Despite the relatively high attainment of disadvantaged students in the capital, white working class children actually do slightly better in the North East.

And despite an ongoing national focus on white working class boys, the attainment of white working class girls is getting worse relative to pupils of other ethnicities. The gap to Indian FSM girls (the highest performing group) has increased by around 40% since 2016.

Gaps between attainment and earnings are especially pronounced for girls. FSM women attain 20% below the average but earn 35% below. FSM men attain 31% below but earn 13% below. Of all ethnicities, the largest gender pay gap is found in white British working class.

But these outcomes aren’t equally rewarded. For example, the GCSE results of a Bangladeshi girl on FSM in the North West is almost 2x higher (on average) than a white British FSM boy from the South East. Despite this, she typically earns almost £5.5k less at age 28.

Our data shows that white British FSM pupils have the lowest attainment of any ethnic group in England. Among FSM pupils, those from Indian and Bangladeshi backgrounds perform best. Girls also outperform boys across all groups.

🚨 Girls, and certain ethnic groups, perform strongly at school but underachieve in the labour market. Our new research shows how geography, gender, and ethnicity all impact opportunities for disadvantaged young people, with big variations across England ⬇️

🔎 How do opportunities for disadvantaged young people interact with gender & ethnicity? And how do these patterns vary across different regions in England? Tomorrow, we’ll release a new report building on The Opportunity Index, a major piece of research we published last year.

📩 Applications are now open for the 2026/2027 Fair School Admissions Awards! The Award is a benchmark for schools and trusts determined to widen opportunity (particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds) through admissions that are transparent, inclusive, and rooted in social mobility.