White Working Class Young People Deserve Better: Landmark Inquiry Demands Overhaul of Apprenticeships, Careers Advice and Post-16 Pathways

The Independent Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes was commissioned by Star Academies, funded by The Christopher and Henry Oldfield Trust, and authored by Public First. It was co-chaired by Sir Hamid Patel CBE, CEO of Star Academies, and Baroness Estelle Morris, former Secretary of State for Education.

A landmark independent inquiry into white working class educational outcomes has placed further education colleges at the heart of its recommendations, while issuing a stark warning that the post-16 system is broken for the 1.25 million white British young people in England who are eligible for free school meals.
Key recommendations at a glance:

• Free access to local public transport for all young people up to the age of 21, recognising transport costs as a major barrier to education, training and employment
• A fundamental overhaul of careers advice, which was found to be generic, too heavily focused on university pathways, and insufficiently connected to local labour markets
• A massive expansion of apprenticeship opportunities, with urgent action to make it significantly easier for SMEs to recruit apprentices, including simplified levy transfers and stronger financial incentives
• FE colleges to be empowered as high-quality, local engines of progression, with substantially greater investment in teaching quality, facilities and employer partnerships, clearer progression pathways into Levels 4, 5 and 6, and a much stronger role in brokering relationships between schools, employers, universities and training providers
• No young person to leave school without a clear, supported destination

Post-16 Progression

The findings on destinations and post-16 progression are particularly sobering. The report concludes that the post-16 system was repeatedly described as unclear and difficult to navigate, and too dependent on family knowledge and local opportunity, with too many young people reaching the end of compulsory education without a clear and supported route into skilled work, further education, or long-term progression.

Only 22% of white working class pupils say university is important for getting a good job, compared with 54% of their peers

The gulf in attitudes towards university is stark. Only 22% of white working class pupils say university is important for getting a good job, compared with 54% of their peers by Years 12 and 13. Unlike other groups, this figure does not increase as they move through school. Many described growing uncertainty about whether higher education was relevant, accessible or financially worth the risk, with student debt cited as a significant deterrent.

Demand outstrips supply on Apprenticeship options

Apprenticeships are the preferred alternative, with 77% of staff in schools serving predominantly white working class communities saying their pupils want to do an apprenticeship. Yet demand consistently outstrips supply. Despite strong Government emphasis on apprenticeships, access was widely described as limited, highly competitive and unevenly distributed, with the apprenticeship levy repeatedly criticised for favouring larger organisations and urban economies over the smaller employers who dominate white working class communities. The inquiry calls for combined authorities to be given clearer responsibility and funding to broker apprenticeship opportunities locally, connecting schools, colleges, employers and training providers more systematically.

Careers Guidance

Careers guidance fared badly across the inquiry’s evidence base. Six in ten staff in majority white working class schools and colleges said they did not rate the careers advice provided for young people on free school meals positively. Young people themselves described advice as generic and overwhelmingly focused on university, leaving many without any real understanding of the vocational and technical routes available to them.

FE colleges received some of the inquiry’s most positive testimony

In contrast, FE colleges received some of the inquiry’s most positive testimony. Students described colleges as more adult, more respectful, and more clearly connected to future employment and real life, with many re-engaging with learning after difficult school experiences. The inquiry is unambiguous that FE should no longer be treated as a lower status alternative to university. It calls for FE to be repositioned as a high-quality route into skilled work, technical education and further study, with stronger alignment between local FE provision and local growth sectors. Critically, expansion of technical and vocational education must be accompanied by much stronger quality expectations and clearer links to skilled employment and local labour market demand.

Clearer progression pathways into Levels 4, 5 and 6

The inquiry also calls for a much stronger role for FE colleges in brokering relationships between schools, employers, universities and training providers, with clearer progression pathways into Levels 4, 5 and 6 to ensure that technical routes carry genuine currency and lead somewhere meaningful.

The inquiry calls for accountability reform so that progression into apprenticeships, technical education and skilled employment is valued equally alongside university destinations in school and college performance measures.

Sector Reaction

Responding to the findings of an independent inquiry which has concluded that the education system is not serving the interests of white working class children James Bowen, assistant general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, who was on the inquiry panel, said:

“The importance of this report cannot be overstated. It shines a spotlight on a group of children and young people that for too long have under-achieved in our education system.

“For perhaps the first time, we now not only have a better understanding of the root causes of that underachievement, but also a clear set of actions we can take at each stage of a child’s education, starting in the early years.

“This is not about quick wins or silver bullets, it’s about a sustained and collective effort involving a wide range of agencies, schools, government and families.

“We now have a genuine opportunity to transform life chances for generations of children and a roadmap for how to achieve that.”

Nick Harrison, CEO of the Sutton Trust, said:

“This inquiry lays bare the cost of leaving whole communities behind. White working-class children continue to have some of the lowest educational outcomes of any ethnic group in England, while those growing up in post-industrial and coastal communities also face significantly lower earnings as adults.

“The situation is particularly stark for white working-class girls and young women, even though there has been a greater national focus on boys. But this is not about setting one disadvantaged group against another. Disadvantaged young people from Black Caribbean backgrounds are just as unlikely to become top earners. Ultimately, this isn’t about ethnicity in isolation. It’s about the interaction between disadvantage and place, entrenched poverty, communities that have been left behind, and too few routes to good jobs and better lives.

“To tackle this, the government must focus relentlessly on the communities that have been left behind for too long. That means directing education support where it’s needed most, alongside creating pathways into good jobs across the country. Until every young person has a genuine chance to fulfil their potential, Britain will continue to waste talent on a scale our economy simply cannot afford, while deepening the sense among many communities that the country no longer works for people like them.”

John Barneby, CEO of Oasis Community Learning, said:

“These findings underline what we see every day, that where a child grows up still shapes their future. As the inquiry highlights, it is not schools failing children, but the impact of deep-rooted inequality.

“Schools are central to the solution. With the right support, inclusive education can transform outcomes for those too often left behind.

“At Oasis, we work with families and communities to connect learning with real opportunities that young people can carry into adulthood. But schools cannot do this alone, they need sustained investment and the backing to work alongside their communities to ensure every child can thrive.”