Phillipson vows to tackle ‘thorny’ challenge facing white working-class pupils

The Education Secretary has pledged to tackle the “thorny” generational challenge of British white working-class young people falling behind their peers as she called it her “priority” for the year ahead.

Bridget Phillipson has said it is a “national disgrace” that so many young people are “written off” and do not get what they need in the education system to achieve and thrive after leaving school.

Speaking before A-level results day on Thursday, Ms Phillipson said her focus will be turning around the “stark” attainment gap and outcomes between white working-class children and their peers.

The Government will set out its plans for the challenge in a schools white paper in the autumn, she said.

Fewer than a fifth (18.6%) of white British pupils eligible for free school meals achieved at least a grade 5 – which is considered a “strong pass” – in their English and maths GCSEs in 2023/24, compared to 45.9% of all state school pupils in England, according to Department for Education (DfE) data.

The Education Secretary told the PA news agency: “They’re not well positioned to carry on with studies, to get an apprenticeship, to go on to university.

“That is why the schools white paper we will be publishing in the autumn will set out an ambitious vision for how we can tackle this generational challenge of what many young people experience.

“(It) is a national disgrace that so many young people are written off and don’t get what they need to achieve and thrive.”

She added: “Far too many young people, particularly white working-class British students, don’t get the exam results that they need at GCSE or A-level to allow them to continue onto university.”

Students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive their A-level results on Thursday and they will decide whether to study in higher education, do an apprenticeship or go straight into work.

University sector leaders have suggested that cost-of-living pressures are affecting young people’s choices around university – with more opting to stay living at home while doing their degree.

Jo Saxton, chief executive of Ucas, would like the Government to provide more bursaries and maintenance support for young people amid a rise in students who are choosing to stay living at home.

She said students were opting not to move away from home for their studies amid cost-of-living pressures, and some were choosing a university near home so they could keep an existing part-time job.

Dr Saxton told PA there has also been a rise in UK 19-year-old first-time applicants as more young people are wanting to work and “raise some funds” for a year before they go to university due to pressures.

Ucas figures released last month revealed that the number of UK 19-year-olds who have applied to higher education by the June 30 deadline has increased by 1.4% compared to last year.

Addressing the cost-of-living pressures facing students, the Education Secretary said the Government recognises that there is “still more to do” to tackle some of the disparities that young people experience.

She told PA: “I do want all students to be able to get the full benefits of their time at university, to be able to take up internships, study trips (and) other work experience opportunities.

“I don’t want students from less well-off backgrounds to be deterred from doing that because of having to take on more hours of paid work.”

When asked if the Government is considering bringing back maintenance grants in England to support poorer students facing cost pressures, Ms Phillipson said: “We’re looking at all of the options in terms of how we can support students to both get to university but also to thrive while they’re at university.”

She added that universities have responsibilities “to make sure students from less well-off backgrounds are given the support that they need” to get to university and to complete their studies.

“There’s still a big challenge there in terms of some of the unacceptably high dropout rates that we see for some students,” the Education Secretary said.

Last year, the Government announced that undergraduate tuition fees in England, which have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017, will rise to £9,535 for the 2025-26 academic year.

It also announced that maintenance loans will increase in line with inflation in the 2025-26 academic year to help students with their living costs.

But university leaders have called for maintenance support to be adjusted in line with inflation in future years rather than as a one-off as part of the Government’s reforms which will be set out in the autumn.

When asked about these calls, Ms Phillipson said: “Both in terms of student finance and the financial sustainability of universities, I understand the arguments that universities make around certainty of funding and that’s something we’re considering as part of the post-16 white paper.”

Speaking to PA before the start of the new academic year, the Education Secretary said: “My big priority for this year will be how we focus on the really stark picture that we see around attainment and outcomes for children from white working-class backgrounds in places like Sunderland.”

She added: “The focus will be how we tackle some of those really thorny and generational challenges – like the gaps that we see around white working-class children and their attainment.

“That’s why both the post-16 white paper and the schools white paper will have a focus on how we turn that around, and how we make sure that all children in our country can achieve and thrive.”

An independent inquiry into the educational outcomes of white working-class children was commissioned by Sir Hamid Patel, chief executive of the multi-academy trust Star Academies, in June.

Speaking before A-level results day, Ucas chief Dr Saxton told PA that an increase in UK 19-year-old first-time applicants was a “new emerging trend”.

She said: “I don’t think it’s the gap year in the sort of traditional Sloaney sense.

“(The) number one concern that we hear from students concerned about the cost of living and they want to work for a bit and raise some funds before they go to study.”

Dr Saxton added: “Would I like to see the Government provide more bursaries and maintenance support? Yes, of course I would.”

The Ucas boss said “commuter students” – those who decide not to move away for university – are using clearing to decline their place to study closer to home “either because of caring responsibilities, or related to cost of living, or because it means they can keep a part-time job they already have”.

On the rise of UK 19-year-old applicants, Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), said: “There’s clearly an affordability concern for applicants.”

She told PA: “I’d be saying to Government this is another reason to get your skates on and address the maintenance and support issue.

“Because it might be students who are taking a bit of time out to earn a bit of money to help them as they enter university.

“But if it’s because they are worried about the availability of finance through the maintenance loan – and it’s the threshold not going up, as well as the total value of the maintenance loan not going up, that’s been a problem – then I think Government should be paying a bit of attention to it.”

Published: 11/08/2025 by Radio NewsHub