Responding to today’s A-level results, Dr. Wanda Wyporska, Executive Director of The Equality Trust, said:

“They’ll be some anxious parents and students this morning, but for many students from poorer backgrounds the battle doesn’t end here, sadly.

“We know that in many professions, privately educated students receive significantly higher pay than their state school counterparts, even when they’ve received exactly the same degree from the same university. We also know there is a huge class pay gap in many top jobs. 

“Education is important, but it is clearly not enough to level the playing field, or to lift people up from poorer backgrounds. If we want to prevent recycled privilege and dynastic advantage, we need a far more complex and thorough approach to reducing inequality. That’s why we’re calling on the Government to introduce an Inequality Reduction Strategy to make sure all children, whatever results they receive, can enjoy a dignified life.”

The Equality Trust is a registered charity that works to improve the quality of life in the UK by reducing economic inequality. UK income inequality is among the highest in the developed world and evidence shows that this results in poorer mental and physical health, higher violent crime, poorer educational outcomes and lower levels of trust. Inequality affects us all. For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact info@equalitytrust.org.uk