Link between attainment and attendance in today's FT.

@suttontrust.bsky.social

Really clear chart in today's FT showing schools absences: recovering slightly from the Covid peak - but only slightly!
Still a huge issue across our schools.

@suttontrust.bsky.social

Biggest ever ‘health span’ gap between rich and poor areas. 👇

Kids born in the austerity years after the Global Financial Crash much more likely to spend their early years in poverty.
Worth clicking into the academic paper this Guardian article is based on.

www.cambridge.org/core/journa...

@suttontrust.bsky.social

Definitely a positive development to improve the nutritional value of school lunches!

@suttontrust.bsky.social

Latest proposals for healthier school lunches has to be a good thing.

Kids learn best when they've had a proper nutritious lunch. It may also help embed healthy eating habits.

@suttontrust.bsky.social

Similar to some of the leadership lessons I'd take from my time in business transformation, and important for all of us engaged with government to drive change. @suttontrust.bsky.social

4. Keep championing reform when problems, resistance or delays appear.

Ministers do not need to control everything. But they do need to create the conditions for reform to stick.

1. Set a clear, consistent vision so the whole system knows what matters (which is often developed in opposition).
2. Build strong relationships inside and outside government to unlock delivery.
3. Use the right tools — targets, accountability and monitoring — to embed change.

The importance of Ministers in leading public service reform:

Institute for Government report out last week makes a simple but important point: ministers still matter hugely in public service reform, even when delivery happens far from Whitehall.

Four lessons: 🧵

The idea is that this can help governments make difficult trade-offs between livelihoods and lifespans, which is always v hard of course.
Saving lives matters hugely - but not at any cost.

On average, people are prepared to spend no more than two years in poverty to gain one additional year of life.

Fascinating paper published last week by @TheIFS.bsky.social looking at how people trade off these factors across 7 high and middle income countries.

Not saying Scotland is getting everything right, but on child poverty they're doing better.

The Scottish government estimates policy choices are reducing their child poverty rate by about 10 %pts overall. They've also set ambitious child poverty reduction targets.

Poverty rates are slightly lower overall (17% in poverty vs. c20% UK wide).
But child poverty is significantly lower (21% vs. c28% UK wide) - driven by different policy choices, in particular the Scottish child payment (£28 per child per week; means tested).

Scotland has less child poverty than the UK.
A recent @theifs.bsky.social report shows why:

Median household incomes are similar (~£38k).
Scottish housing costs are lower, so after housing incomes are ~5% higher.
There's less inequality.
@suttonttrust.bsky.social
..continued..
🧵

Capping student loan interest at 6% will help some students - albeit mainly higher earners. It would have been more impactful to increase repayment thresholds to help graduates on lower and middle incomes.

@suttontrust.bsky.social

It's increasingly difficult to get on the housing ladder without the bank of mum and dad - which is becoming a huge social mobility issue.

Graph shows how long first-time buyers would have to save for a deposit - > 10yrs for many!

From a brilliant @resfoundation report.

@suttonttrust.bsky.social

No easy solutions, because assistance schemes can just have the effect of inflating house prices, which doesn't help anyone. The report proposes a targeted equity loan scheme - open to those without family assistance - to help people get on the ladder.

Overall, almost 50% of potential first-time buyers would pass the income requirements for a mortgage on a starter home, but just 15% have enough saved for a deposit.

When family wealth determines who gets on the ladder, housing becomes a social mobility issue as much as a housing issue.

Bank of mum and dad lottery increasingly determines who can get on the housing ladder.

Great report from @resolutionfoundation.org last week, which shows that many more can afford monthly mortgage payments than have a 5% deposit.

@suttontrust.bsky.social

Private schools have the resources to integrate AI properly and state schools falling behind because of squeezed resources. It would be a huge problem if some kids are deskilled because of AI and others turbocharged by using it sensibly.

Kids not learning basic skills because of AI use is a big concern. The answer is to teach them how to use it properly: as a tool, not a crutch.

However, @suttontrust.bsky.social work on this highlights a big digital divide.

Polling from @danielkebedeneu.bsky.social @neuunion.bsky.social

Note, big spike in L7 partly driven by a last minute rush before the governments funding withdrawal. This policy aims to skew the system back towards young people and away from management training for existing employees. We'll see how it works in the coming months.

Apprenticeship starts up over the last 6 months, mainly driven by higher level: L4 (28k +17%), L5 (20k +23%), L6(20k +6%), L7(26k +50%;).

Good news of sorts - but young people under 19 only 24% of starts. The system still isn't delivering for the young. @suttontrust.bsky.social

Surely we can provide school kids with proper lunches? Sounds like a niche point - but feels important to underline good food habits with school kids, and ensure proper nutrition to aid learning. Saving money on school lunches feels short-term and counter productive.

@suttontrust.bsky.social

SEN background NEET rates: females 16.2%, males 18.7% (vs. females 7.6%, males 8.8% for no SEN).

FSM NEET rates: females 16.1%, males 19.2% (vs. females 6.9%, males 8.9% for no FSM).

NEET rates are around 2x greater for those with SEN (special educational needs) or from an FSM (free school meals) background: Supporting SEN and closing educational gaps is critical to solving the NEET crisis. @suttontrust.bsky.social
(Latest analysis from ONS, albeit based on 2021 data).

How is this happening? Our polling of school leaders found:

41% say some schools actively discourage applications from pupils with SEND. And this rises to 50% among leaders in high-SEND schools, but only 33% in low-SEND schools.

The least inclusive schools are the least likely to see the problem.

At first glance, SEND inclusion in top schools doesn’t look too bad.

EHCP pupils? No gap.
Overall SEND? Only slightly lower.

But look closer and we see top schools take ~1/3 fewer pupils who are BOTH disadvantaged and have SEND than live locally.