How has my eighteen month old started saying six-seven. Not sure whether to be proud of his progress on numbers, or to punish him for being way behind the trend. He's going to start saying "brat summer" next.

New post just out: "Burnham's first mistake" Splitting 14 year olds into academic and vocational paths seems intuitive. But it's a terrible idea that risks increasing inequality, and closing down options for the young people that need them most. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...

Burnham's first mistake

The problem with his education plan

open.substack.com

📖 Really important research published by CEPEO this week, revealing the persistent link between family income and children’s later earnings for the generation born around 1990. Check it out here ⤵️ econpapers.repec.org/paper/uclcep...

It's literally this simple 👇

🚨 THE NEW CABINET 🚨 Andy Burnham is the new Prime Minister, and he's finalised his cabinet. This new cabinet is less representative than Keir Starmer's first cabinet, which was the most representative – in terms of education backgrounds – ever recorded. Our analysis 🧵👇

24% of the new cabinet attended private school, which, while low historically, is up quite a bit from 8% in Starmer's first cabinet. 41% were educated in the north of England, up from 19% of Rishi Sunak's cabinet, and 31% of Starmer's. www.suttontrust.com/our-research...

🚨 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 ⤵️🧵

My colleague Max Perrott on the incoherence at the heart of the suite of attainment targets, and how they can drive the wrong responses when pursued without nuance in a landscape of broken services www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

How the GLD target could hide a growing early years divide

The early years disadvantage gap is at its widest since 2014, research shows, raising questions about whose progress getting 75 per cent of children to a good level of development will rely on

tes.com

Longer paternity leave benefits the whole family. Nice bit of qualitative research supported by a @britishacademy.bsky.social small research grant www.thetimes.com/article/d547... (underlying paper: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...)

Longer paternity leave benefits the whole family, study finds

Only 2 per cent of working fathers share leave entitlements, but researchers say a spell of ‘solo dadding’ keeps men more involved in running the household

thetimes.com

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.

Ahead of next week's launch of the Inquiry on White Working Class Educational Outcomes, have written a short piece here.

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · last mo.

🗣️ "Different groups face different challenges, but we should not be pitting these groups against each other." @carlcullinane.bsky.social We must tackle the challenges facing all young people across this country, regardless of background ⤵️

Good piece on our research in @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/pove...

It’s our poorest white girls who are truly being ‘left behind’

A new report by the Sutton Trust makes clear that, despite widespread focus on white working-class boys, girls are in an escalating crisis

prospectmagazine.co.uk

Our report today on how opportunity is shaped by socio-economic background, gender, ethnicity and place is accompanied by a wealth of data resources. From a map of how every constituency does for white working class pupils, to an interactive data story: www.suttontrust.com/crossing-pat...

🚨 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 ⬇️

Our one year old is very much like an AI chatbot. If he doesn't know what something is called, then he'll say something incomprehensible rather than admit he doesn't know.

Great to speak at this morning's event on our recent report on the School-Based Nursery programme - a huge thank you to the rest of the panel for a great discussion. @smfthinktank.bsky.social @suttontrust.bsky.social, @carlcullinane.bsky.social @larry-turner.bsky.social @nuffieldfoundation.org

Great to see our latest research on school-based nurseries covered on BBC Breakfast by Education Reporter Vanessa Clarke at the weekend 📺

Back in London from Scotland

Do The Right Thing - A Spike Lee Joint

ALT: Do The Right Thing - A Spike Lee Joint

static.klipy.com

Very pleased to be publishing our major new study on the government's school-based nursery expansion this morning. Big thanks to @eleanorire.bsky.social and @nuffieldfoundation.org for their support!

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · 3mo ago

📣 Today we have published new research on school-based nurseries with @smfthinktank.bsky.social and funded by @nuffieldfoundation.org. The research shows that progress on opening new school-based nurseries is far behind the government’s original plans 🧵⬇️

🚨 NEW: There is a ‘happiness gap’ between people born into different social classes, we have found. Our research with Co-op finds that wellbeing remains closely tied to the social status you’re born into, but social mobility helps to close most of this gap ⬇️🧵

NEW: What genetics can (and can’t) tell us about educational inequality - with John Jerrim Recent research allows us to ask new questions about how children differ in their educational development and what this does – and does not - mean for schools. vist.ly/536y7

What genetics can (and can’t) tell us about educational inequality - FFT Education Datalab

Recent research allows us to ask new questions about how children differ in their educational development and what this does – and does not - mean for schools.

ffteducationdatalab.org.uk

Interesting piece on giving additional early education support to children with SEND. www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat...

Why early years support must be based on need, not parental employment - Nursery World

The BRIDGE Project shows how targeted provision for children with SEND can support children and families, says Dr June O'Sullivan, CEO of the London Early Years

nurseryworld.co.uk

As part of our Fair Admissions Hub launch today we have created an interactive Pupil Premium Admissions simulator. Describe your applicant pool, set your admissions criteria and test the impact of different priority policies on the intake. www.suttontrust.com/pupil-premiu...

An amazing set of resources for teachers & leaders looking to become more inclusive. Videos, podcasts, case studies, an online learning module, and two interactive tools allowing schools to compare their intake to their locality, as well as simulate the impact of different admissions policy changes.

The Sutton Trust@suttontrust.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🚨 We've launched a brand-new free hub of resources to help schools change their admissions policies! The Fair School Admissions Hub is a one-stop shop for school leaders looking to improve their admissions and increase social diversity in their school ⬇️ www.suttontrust.com/fair-school-...

🚨 NEW: Schools are continuing to cut back on staff, subjects, and SEND support, we have found. Our new research reveals a worrying picture for schools, with essential staff and activities being cut to manage tight budgets ⬇️🧵

1 Successive governments have held up apprenticeships as a valid 16+ choice But specialist advisers SSAC have uncovered how a mismatch with benefits has evolved It puts big barriers in the way of young people taking up the best training for them My blog explains ssac.blog.gov.uk/2026/04/23/t...

“Genes Linked to Educational Attainment & Adult SES Across Birth Cohorts”: @hdobewall.bsky.social, @mariavaalavuo.bsky.social et al. examine whether genetic endowment for high education is assoc. with subsequent socioeconomic outcomes. @invest-flagship.bsky.social read.dukeupress.edu/demography/a...

Great opportunity for year 12 students to do work experience at the House of Lords. Apply by 22 April www.parliament.uk/business/new...

Sad to see

Now is the winter of our discount eggs